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they show towards the rituals of Christianity, there is secretly lurking within many of them, an infidelity equally deep, and equally direful, with that which in others is not afraid openly to avow itself. Or where some degree of horror may be maintained, against the demoralization to which modern infideity tends, and a tenacity held to Christianity with a view to prevent the increase of deism in society; or else from a respect to national institutions; still the utmost of it terminates in self-righteousness, and in the moralities which a Pagan might perform; while the doctrine and fact of faith in Christ, and of divine influence, are lampooned as visionary and fanatical; even while they read of these on the face of every page of the New Testament. So difficult is it to possess the natural man with the knowledge of the truth.

"Now, the sole reason why the one set of persons do understand and realize the divinity of the bible, whilst the other set of persons do not, is owing entirely to that power denominated faith, which is given to some, but not to all. This becomes a kind of mental instrument to believers, by which they can enter into the arcana ofthe revealed truths of God. And hence it was, that our Saviour congratulated his disciples: it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others it is not given.' And the difference between the faith which is from God, and the natural blindness of man, is plainly stated by the apostle for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.-Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.' Now this is only one way of expressing that state of mind and character, the radical essence of which is faith. The believer then obtains a standing upon elevated ground. which the natural man cannot reach: he has all that the natural man has, and he has something, yea, much, which the natural man has not. His reason and ability for all the functions and engagements of the present world, are by no means diminished, or inferior to those of other men, on account of his faith but he is as rational, and as wise, and as prudent for this world as are other men, or as himself was ere he had faith. The principle of faith, which was not born with him, takes its place along with his reason and will, and it works as well with these natural faculties, as though it had been connate with them. So that, while the believer pays all due attention to the things of this world, by virtue of his faith he is at the same time attentive to the things of another world. And so, while the man, by being new created in Christ Jesus, is made for a future heaven, he, at the same time, is not unmade for the purposes of this present earth. Hence, how admirable is the work of God!" pp. 199-203.

TOTTENHAM-COURT CHAPEL.

WE have great pleasure in learning, and communicating to our readers the fact, that the managers of Mr. Whitfield's connexion have completed an arrangement for the purchase of Tottenham Court Chapel, which has been so long shut up, owing to the difficulty of coming to terms with the owners. They have agreed, we understand, to give 16,500l. for the freehold, and they intend to lay out in necessary repairs and improvements, a further sum of 3,000l. which, with the expences of transfer, &c. will make the total outlay little short of 20,000l. We are not informed whether the managers have the means of raising this large sum of money in their own connexion, but if they have not, which we think is very probable, and if they determine to appeal to the liberality of the christian public, we trust their appeal will be answered with generosity. The whole country was benefitted by the exertions of George Whitfield, and the happy effects of such exertion, are still in operation; we believe this will be universally admitted. The dissenters and evangelical Christians of the present day have much of this world's goods at their command. We would remind them that they are but stewards, that they hold all they have in trust and are bound to distribute them in the way best calculated to advance the Redeemer's kingdom. Let them think of this. Let their consciences ponder well, whether it is fit that the scene of Whitfield's stated labours should be desolate, or be encumbered with difficulties which the application of money would alone remove. But we have confidence in the gratitude of Christians and are sure if this appeal be made to them, it will be hailed with gladness as affording them an opportunity of testifying their grateful recollections of Whitfield's services.

TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY

OF THE REV. MATTHEW WILKS. Who departed this life on the 29th of January, 1829; after having been Pastor at the Tabernacle and Tottenham-Court Chapels, for more than half a century.

If the writer might hope to be pardoned a presumption which his youth and inexperience render the less excusable, he would observe, that the melancholy and desponding strain of lamentation in which it has often been his lot to hear the departure of aged ministers of the gospel referred to, seems to him peculiarly unsuited to the occasion. Could we expect the "fathers" always to be with us, or "the prophets" to "live for ever." we

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A RELIGIOUS AND LITERARY JOURNAL.

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No. 24.]

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1829.

[PRICE 3d.

LECTURES ON PROPHECY,

BY THE ASSOCIATED INDEPENDENT MINISTERS OF LONDON.

LECTURE IV. THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND TERMINATION OF MOHAMMEDISM. BY THE REV. HENRY FOSTER BURDER, M. A.

"The vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed. And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he saith, I am not learned."-Isa. xxix. 11, 12.

THE study of prophetical subjects may be declined without sufficient reason. They are confessedly difficult, and require laborious and patient research. They compel us frequently to acknowledge our ignorance, when we are anxious to extend our information, and to remain in doubt when we wish to banish from our minds the impressions of uncertainty. We are often too much disposed to adopt as our own the sentiments, if not the language, of the passage I have read; yet these verses exhibit the frivolous excuses of the indolent and supine. They had closed their eyes against the light; they had yielded themselves to a listless repose; and then they endeavoured to extenuate the culpability of their wilful ignorance, by pleading the obscurity of those divine communications, which they had never vigorously attempted to understand.

If, then, we would avoid an exposure to the charge which was alleged against them, let us not be wanting in that humble and persevering diligence, by which alone we can pursue the investigation of the whole counsel of God. Let us not forget that a blessing is pronounced on him who readeth, and heareth, and keepeth the words of the prophecy of the apocalyptic book.

The subject assigned to me for discussion, is one of peculiar difficulty, requiring at once a compendium of history, and an investigation of prophecy. It is the rise, progress, and termination of Mohammedism. It will be necessary for me to attempt,

I. An outline of the leading facts connected with its rise, and with its rapid and extensive progress.

VOL. I.

II. An inquiry into the causes which may be assigned for that rapidity and extent of propagation: and,

III. A reference to the prophetic Scriptures, with a view to ascertain whether any disclosure is made of the future history and final termination of Mohammedism.

Let me present for your consideration, I. AN OUTLINE OF HISTORIC FACTS REGARDING THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF MOHAMMEDISM.

Mohammed, the son of Abdallah, was born at Mecca, in the latter part of the sixth century. His orphan infancy was taken under the protection first of his grandfather, Abdol-Motalleb, and afterwards of his uncle, Abu-Taleb. His lineage was high, but his patrimony small. His education, like that of his countrymen in general, was very limited; and his early life was devoted in part to the pursuits of commerce, and in part to the occupations of war. He became the confidential agent of Kadijah, the widow of a wealthy merchant: and, at the age of twenty-five years, by receiving her hand and her fortune, he took his rank among the most affluent and influential inhabitants of Mecca. For a series of years he addicted himself, at certain periods, to retirement in the cave of Hera, where he appears to have yielded his ardent mind to the impulses of an enthusiastic ambition. When about forty years of age, he ventured to assume the character of a prophet, and to affirm, that by a communication from the angel Gabriel, he was divinely appointed the apostle of God. His wife became his first convert,

2 c

his slave the second, and Ali, his youthful and impetuous cousin, the third. In the course of three years, his arts of persuasion succeeded to the extent of six additional converts. In the year 612, he boldly avowed his pretensions in an assembly of his relatives and friends; and when an effort was made, by the father of Ali, to dissuade him from the prosecution of his purpose, he resolutely exclaimed, "Though the sun were set against me on my right hand, and the moon on my left, I would not swerve from my course." He assured them that he had ascended, under the guidance of Gabriel, to the very throne of the Almighty, and had been honoured with an unveiled vision of the Deity, and with direct communications from God. He declared that he had received the salutations of the patriarchs, the prophets, and the angels; and he described with graphic. minuteness the marvellous scenery of the seven heavens, through which, as he asserted, he had penetrated in the night of his mysterious career.

So daring a demand on the principle of credulity was for several years successful with but few. Many derided his pretensions, while some dreaded, and others resented his ambition. Factions thus produced, disturbed and divided several of the Arab tribes; and on the death of Abu-Taleb, his powerful protector, Mohammed was compelled to seek security by flight. Accompanied by his friend Abu-Beker, he eluded with difficulty the pursuit of his enemies, and arrived in safety at Medina. This flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina, in the year 622, became the epoch of Mohammedan chronology, the epoch of the Hegira. The fugitive was received as a prophet, and obeyed as a sovereign. He assumed the supreme power in religion, as the apostle of God; and from that time he issued the mandates of undisputed authority, alike in the pulpit, in the city, and in the camp. During the thirteen years of his indefatigable perseverance at Mecca, his attempts at proselytism had been viewed in the light of a bold, a perilous, and a doubtful adventure; but on his auspicious reception at Medina, his power was consolidated, his enemies were alarmed, and his converts rallied around him, with the aspect of a determined, a numerous, and a united band.

Whilst Mohammed possessed not the means of employing coercion, to augment

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the number of his followers, he devoted his talents and his influence to the arts of persuasion the results, however, were not such as to satisfy the ambition of his aspiring mind; and resources only were wanting for attempts at propagation, without the slow and uncertain processes of argument. Power, therefore, instantaneously transformed the persuasive preacher into a relentless persecutor; and most opportunely he received, as he pretended, instructions from the angel Gabriel to propagate his religion by the sword. In a discourse then delivered at Medina, and subsequently introduced into the Koran, Mohammed exclaimed, "The sword is the key of heaven and hell; a drop of blood shed in the cause of God-a night spent under arms-is of more avail than two months of fasting and prayer. Whosoever falls in battle receives the forgiveness of his sins; at the day of judgment, his wounds shall be resplendent as vermillion, and odoriferous as musk; and the loss of his limbs shall be replaced by wings of angels and cherubim."

The romance of paradise which Mohammed had the extravagance to frame, and the boldness to promulge, his followers had the credulity to receive. With the enthusiasm of fanatics, calculating on the rewards of eternity; with the mania of fatalism, disdaining all discrimination between security and danger; and with the fury of hostile tribes inured to most desperate and most deadly feuds, they rushed upon their foes, regardless of their numbers, with the war-cry of "Victory, or Paradise."

At the end of seven years, computed from the Hegira, the exile of Mecca became its lord, uniting in his own person the sovereignty of its laws, the sovereignty of its armies, and the sovereignty of its religion. The conquest of Mecca facilitated the subjugation of all Arabia. But the limits of Arabia were too contracted to afford scope for the ambition and the rapacity of the conqueror. The rich and fertile regions of Syria attracted his cupidity; and when, on their march through the burning desert, his army was dismayed by the pestilential winds, and the withering heats, he awakened their fears when it was difficult to enkindle their hopes, and endeavoured to deter them from desertion, by the assurance that "Hell is hotter than the desert." During the three years which intervened

between the conquest of Mecca, and his 'death, Mohammed extended his dominions to the very borders of the Greek and of the Persian empires, and rendered his name formidable to those once mighty kingdoms. His power was now firmly established, and an impetus given to the Arabian nations, which in a few years induced them to invade, and enabled them to subdue, a great 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 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 threatended 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, 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 enquire, 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 1. 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 the 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

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