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    any other capacity than that of the public advocate of the new doctrines . They were , however , taken under the protection of Ibu-Saoud , the supreme niter of Ared , who adopted their system as the established religion of his rising * dominion , became its tern , poral chief , and sought to build upon

    it the more solid and tempting edifice of political power . The orthodox sect was supported by despotic force : it was allied to a government arbitrary in all its movements , and to think for themselves , it was necessary for the

    supporters of heresy to act for themselves . In the East , the form of government appears , from experience , to be almost necessarily what is called Patriarchal , and the command of the Ruler must be implicitl y obeyed , whether in matters of religious or civil obligation ; what resource , therefore , would there be for the Wahhabites

    but to oppose force by fbtce , if they wished to preserve their independence ? They fcave , however , done more than this , and have shewn most abundantly that whatever portion of the alloy they

    rgected from the Prophet's system , they adhered most zealously to the worst feature of the Establishment , which founded itself on his authoritythe principle of making converts , not by argument , but the sword .

    It is doubtful whether the Wahhabites have preserved the purity or acted up to the spirit of the doctrine of their Founder . From all that can be gathered from the works of modern travellers , it appears that they have adopted many of the superstitions

    against which the Reform seemed expressly aimed , and the cause has , as might be expected , been made In the end subservient to the ambitious projects of its temporal leaders .

    Their progress was very rapid towards the end of the last century . Ibu-Saoud , the temporal pastor and zealous propagator of the flew , opinions , was succeeded by Abdelttfriz , Who , at the head of a powerful peopleJsealom for political and religion independence , pushed on a rapid career of victory against the opposing Turkish power , which sought to bring into submission its rebel subjects , anfl to support the orthodox faith by all the zeal * vhHi the powerful influence of the I J ^ utah rt ™ L fc ^ *** - «* Mii » * DfadNotfiW , hqwever , coirid * rithr stattd the ov ^ rwheltninff attack , and

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    the lloly city itself submitted to be purged of its abominations by the Heforitaing Chief , who boldly challenged the Sultan himself to surrender las

    title of Commander of the Faithful , as devolving on him , to whom God had given the victory . Arabia almost universally adopted the heresy with the same zeal with which it had , 1100 years before , supported the then Reform of Mahomet .

    In Syria and Anatolia , Damascus , Aleppo and Smyrna , many were known to be secretly proselytes * The Pacha of Bagdad trembled at the approach of the torrent : and that the new sect

    did not overrun at any rate the Eastern world with the rapidity of their ancestors in the first ages of Islamism , is ascribable only to the general growth of civilization , and the inventions which , by rendering war more scientific , have given wealth and discipline such great

    advantages . Though enthusiastic and daring as the followers of Abu-Beker and Omar , they have not now to contend against the degenerate vassals of Herachus and Yesdegerd , but the disciplined resources of the Turkish and Persian empires . An adventurer * who spent several years in intimate connexion with them , after describing

    their admirable regulations of internal policy , and their fervent zeal in the cause of the Reformed religion , says , " To conclude , among the Wahhabites we see all that courage , activity and make

    perseverance which a rising nation ; all that boldiiess of design and energy of execution which distinguish a new and vigorous government ; in a word , all the advantages of despotism , and few of its inconveniences /*

    In the alarm which this impending revolution produced throughout the Turkish empire , it is said that some of the Ulemah had the simplicity to pro pose to reclaim the heretics by argument . Unfortunately * I can " find j of this

    norecord of the proceedings cotmcil fot the settlement of the faith . Such scenes , though under diff erent actors ; hnd been femiliar to Constant ^ nople in former days , and it is difficult to say that tatiny of the subjects WbOch had occugieft the grave atUmtion of som £ of Its Christian coun&itf , wtere of

    - ^ | ' L ' _ 7 - . . _ _ 1 *•* " « l *^ W ^ i «*^* Wlp ^^ Wi ^^^^^^^^^^ " ^ " - - -.- „ - ¦ .. y . - ¦ ¦ , ¦ ^ ¦^^^^•» ^ Vincenzo Ma ^ rizi , who panned under i % e ^ me of Seiwiik M * tisi (^ , and yw in the employ of Scyd Said , Smtan w Muscat . - * - ¦ " . ¦

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    The Nonconformist . No . XVIIL 3 ga

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1820, page 353, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2489/page/29/