ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY." 



world ; and of which we fhall give a brief hif- 

 tory in the following chapter. 



X. (7.) Mabometanifm. Mahomet, called the 

 prophet, was an artful impoftor, and of his 

 kind, perhaps the grcatefl man that ever appear- 

 ed upon the earth. He was born the 5th of 

 May in the year 570 of the Chriftian era. His 

 father, who was an Arab and a Pagan, was called 

 Abdalla, and his mother, who was a Jew, was 

 named Emina, and they were both of the dregs 

 of the people. It would require a volume to 

 fhow by what addrefs, what fubtle genius, 

 what extenfive fchemes, what refources, by what 

 a bold and daring fpirit, he became enabled to 

 produce a new religion, and to eftablilh it in Afia, 

 Africa, and even in fome countries of Europe ; 

 by bearing in one hand the Coran, and in the 

 other the fword ; and by lucceeding equally well, 

 as conqueror, legiflator and prophet. The Ma- 

 hometans acknowledge that Judailin and Chrilt- 

 ianity are true religions , but that they no longer 

 contain any certain principles, becaufe their holy 

 books have been corrupted. They fay that God 

 tommunicated himfelf to his prophet Mahomet, 

 by the angel Gabriel, for the fpace of twenty- 

 three years , and gave him a certain number of 

 written fheets, from whence he compofed the 

 book called the Coran or Alcoran. M. du 

 Ryer has tranflated this Alcoran into French ; 

 and M. iYideaux and count Boulairn illiers have 

 each of them wrote the life of Mahomet. The 



prifl 



