rified, as gold by the refiner's fire, will be raised in glory, and become fit receptacles for the purified soul.

"Our Holy Scriptures," added the pilgrim, "abound with descriptions of the future glory of believers, and of the happiness which they shall taste at the right hand of God. Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever. (Dan. xii. 2, 3.)

66

I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish. (John x. 28.)

“I beheld, and lo, a great multitude stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

For

the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Rev. vii. 9, 14-17.)

"As I have built my hopes," continued Nazareenee, "upon these promises, and certainly would not lightly renounce the glorious prospects which they open before me; I should wish to know upon what grounds you affirm your religion to be better than ours, and how you can prove your prophet to be superior to Christ. From the beginning of the world, Christ was foretold by a series of prophecies; he was also pre-figured

by many types and shadows, many ordinances and ceremonies, from age to age, through the wise and condescending appointment of God." The pilgrim then proceeded to give an instance of this, in those sacrifices which both Hindoos and Mussulmauns consider as pleasing to God, and which were all originally typical of the great sacrifice of Christ. After which, he adverted to the ceremony of the Buckree Eed, which is celebrated in commemoration of Abraham offering up his son, which son is falsely said to have been Ishmael, but known by ancient and authentic records to have been Isaac the acknowledged type of Christ.

"Is it not universally required," added Nazareenee, "that every sacrifice should be pure and without blemish? But to whom can these spotless types refer, except to Christ? of whom it is written; He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. (1 Pet. ii. 22.) Can these things by any means be rendered applicable to your prophet? or where is any ancient prediction to be found of him either as a Saviour or a teacher?"

Mussulmaun. Did not Christ foretel our great prophet under the name of Periklitos, or the İllustrious; which hath the same signification as Ahmed or Mahommed? And did not you Christians change this name to Parakletos?

Pilgrim. From whence have you this, my brother? Whence learn you that this word was changed? or how do you know that this passage applies to your prophet?

Mussulmaun. Our prophet himself affirms it. Nazareenee. I might here apply what our Lord himself asserts, That if one bear witness of himself, his witness is not true. But to pass this part of the matter over, I would willingly know at what time the Christians are supposed to have altered this passage. It could not have been

before the coming of your prophet; for then they had no inducement so to do: and at the time of his coming it was altogether impracticable, since copies of the sacred books were then spread through the greatest part of the known world. Moreover, as I think you would find it difficult to prove that Mahommed was ever predicted as a great prophet or teacher, by any writer whatsoever; so, in like manner, it would be hard to point out any passage in the Koraun, in which he has confirmed his divine mission, by foretelling any future event beyond the reach of mere conjecture.

To this the Mussulmaun answered, "What! did he not make use of these words, when speaking to his followers, Whosoever apostatizes from this religion, God will certainly bring others to supply his place?"

Nazareenee. Does he limit any time for the fulfilment of this prediction as you term it?

"The

The Mussulmaun could not affirm that he did. Nazareenee then asserted, That it required no superhuman power to foretel, that, when one should fall away from a religion at that time beginning to prosper and prevail among men, another would probably take his place. "The predictions delivered by a divine power are not thus uncertain," continued the pilgrim. prophecies of God are frequently delivered in dark sayings, it is true; and they were probably never meant to be fully comprehended by man, till after their fulfilment; but when they are fulfilled, they become so evident, as often to force conviction upon the most hardened infidel. But what," asked Nazareenee, "is there in this prophecy of Mahommed beyond probable conjecture?"

Mussulmaun. We believe not in our great prophet on account of the prophecies he uttered;

since we find him thus openly disavowing all pretensions to prophetical powers-" Do I know what will be done with me or you hereafter?" (Koraun.)

Christian. On what then do you rest your faith? Did he work any miracles? Did he, like our Divine Master, heal the sick, loosen the tongue of the dumb, cause the blind to see, and the lame to walk? Did he raise the dead? Did he rebuke the winds and the seas? or did they obey him?

Mussulmaun. Our great and mighty prophet pretended not to work wonders: he was not sent with miracles, but with arms. He declares that he came to convert men by the sword: nevertheless God wrought many wonders in his favour. Did not the Holy Spirit, in the shape of a dove, fly to his ear? Did not the comets speak to him at night? Did not a part of the moon fall into his sleeve? What do you say to these things?

Nazareenee. Who saw these things? Or who died to bear witness of them, as many did in attestation of our Redeemer's miracles?

Mussulmaun. Our sacred book is a standing miracle. What uninspired man could write such a volume?

Nazareenee. Wherein does the miraculous nature of this book consist? And first, to speak of its doctrines; what does it contain which mere human reason could not discover, or which had not before been revealed by the sacred books of the Christians? Your prophet does not deny the Christian doctrine of man's natural depravity; but what satisfaction does he point out for sin? Where does he promise divine assistance to correct our vile nature? Where does he even assert the necessity of a change of heart and inward purity? Does not all his religion consist in outward observances? He confesses the existence

of Satan and his enmity against mankind; but he gives us no description of his wiles, nor points out any way to guard against him. Thus has he gathered from our Scriptures every thing which is therein revealed concerning the fall of man and his present depraved state, omitting in his system all that is encouraging and consolatory in the Christian religion. We find no command in the Koraun to love God or our neighbour; whereas, in the Gospel the whole of man's duty is summed up in these words: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. (Mark xii. 30, 31.) Now it is by the prevalence of this charity, or love, that we distinguish those who are really disciples of our Lord and Saviour, from those who only pretend to be so.

Mussulmaun. What! do you pretend that there are not wars, and fightings, and animosities, among the Christian nations as well as among the Mahommedans?

To this Nazareenee made answer, that man's nature is such, that he will ever be perverting the best things; and that the Christian religion ought not to be judged of by the lives of the greater part of those who bear the Christian name, but by the Scripture itself, "which we hold," said he, "to be the true word and law of God; and which we invite all nations to read, though it be to our own condemnation, as proving that we fall far short of the standard therein proposed."

Nazareenee then remarked, that the views of happiness given in the Koraun were extremely degrading to man's nature, relating entirely to

Р