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    serves , " One sect derived its name from the place where it originated , another from its Pounder , and another again from some particular teuet or leading principle . " Some similar remarks may be made relative to those who are denominated the Fathers in the Christian church , but the present object is to fix the attention of your readers to the dogma held by some of the Gnostics * and rejected by Mohammed , as contrary to divine truth .

    Let those who think unfavourably of Mohammed , say by what charm the descendants of the Chaldeans , the Persians , the Egyptians , and the Indians , were induced to embrace the faith preached by the Arabian prophet . If it be admitted that under every system of religion , and by every sect , a great First Cause , a Supreme Divine Power , was acknowledged by the wisest individuals , how came it to pass that such vast

    numbers desisted from paying religious reverence to any created object ? How came it to pass that the Sabeans ceased to pay subordinate worsfeip to the starry host , the Persians to the sun , the Egyptians to their animals , &c , and the Indians to the several objects of their superstitious veneration , and that , with a few exceptions in each case , all may be said to concur in the exclamation , God is one , and Mohammed is the Prophet of God !

    No true Mohammedan admits that there are two equal powers , one the author of good , and the other the author of evil . No true Mohammedan admits that matter is eternal , and the only cause of sin . No true Mohammedan admits that this world was created by two powers iuferior to the Supreme Power . No true Mohammedan admits that the Demiurgus ,

    or Creator of this world , was distinct from the Divine Creator of the universe ; and although true Mohammedans object to some of the opinions of the Jewish Doctors respecting the Divine attributes and government , and consider the divine doctrine of Jesus Christ to have been mutilated , and its glory shrouded , by the

    intervention of the errors of Gnosticism and other human conceits , yet all true Mohammedans believe the God of the Jews , the God of the Christians , the God of the Mohammedans , and the Supreme Divine Power which the wisest and best of the Heathens acknowledged , to be One and the same eternal source of Wisdom , Goodness , and Mbkcv . * A CHRISTIAN MOSLEM .

    • I am aware that Dr . Moaheim un-

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    Turkish Piety and Morality . To the Editor . Sir , Nov . 16 , 1830 . I am sure there is not one of your readers who wonld not wish that be could feel justified by facts in thinking as favourably of the Turkish character as your correspondent Mr . Yates . As " friends of humanity and civilization , "

    they would rejoice to be convinced that they have formed a harsher opinion than they are justified in entertaining : and the prominent place they hold among the advocates of every thing that is liberal will acquit them from all suspicion of any sentiment like religious bigotry and

    intolerance influencing their judgment ou this subject . I fear , however , that the witnesses most intelligent and competent" are too numerous to allow charity herself to speak in terms of approbation of the " charitable disposition , " ( in the sense in which Christians are wont to use the expression , ) or the ** religious sincerity , " of the Turks . The following extracts are from the Travels of R . R . Madden , Esq ., in Tarkey , Syria , and Egypt , &c ., from 1823 to

    sparingly brands Mohammed as an impostor or a fanatic . There is no ground for the supposition that Mohammed anticipated the ultimate result of his ministry : an impostor must have had some sinister end in view . That Mohammed was actuated by a conscientious desire to

    propagate what he believed to be true relative to the Unity of God , ought uot without proof to be denied . The term fanatic is a commonly opprobrious term bestowed on persons ardently zealous in the support of a doctrine not coinciding with our own . f shall , however , subjoin an extract from that learned and valuable writer , which your readers will consider an intentional commendatiou . Dr .

    Mosheim , speaking of the opinion relative to the government of the universe by two powers , one the author of good , the other the author of evil , says , " This doctrine was received throughout a considerable part of Asia and Africa , especially a ~ mougst the ChaUkeans , Assyrianss , Syrians , and Egyptians , though with different

    modifications , and had even infected the Jews themselves . The Arabians at that time , and even afterwards , were more remarkable for strength aud courage than for genius and sagacity , nor do they seem , according to their own confession , to have acquired any great reputation for wisdom and philosophy before the time of Mahomet . "—E . Hist . Vol . I . p . 84 .

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    Miscellaneous Correspondence . 6 *

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1831, page 61, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2593/page/61/