tlFE OF MOHAMMED. 271 



sessed many principles in common with the true 

 religion ; and is, doubtless in every respect, far pre- 

 ferable . to the degrading and monstrous idolatry 

 which formed the ancient and prevailing creed of 

 Arabia. It was a wise and humane jurisprudence 

 that forbade the infant slave to be separated from the 

 mother ; that abolished the immolation of children to 

 idols; and the barbarous system of burying females 

 alive. But the language of commendation can ex- 

 tend little farther than to the repeal of obnoxious 

 usages. To the praise of a great or enlightened 

 statesman Mohanmied has no claim. That he was 

 superior to the age in which he lived is evident from 

 the success of his imposture ; but nothing, except 

 the prejudices of habit or education, could persuade 

 any rational being of his merits as a legislator, 

 beyond that of imbodying his loose and obscure in- 

 stitutes in a written form. 



Admitting, to their full extent, his mental and in- 

 tellectual qualifications, his character as a conqueror 

 was deeply stained with the vices of Asiatic despot- 

 ism. To a candid reviewer of his actions, it may 

 appear that Mohammed was severe from poUcy 

 rather than cruel by nature ; but this can be no 

 apology or extenuation of his guilt.* For the neces- 



* Voltaire, in his " Tragedy of Mahomet," the plot of which 

 embraces the truce and capitulation of Mecca, makes the Prophet 

 " imagme and perpetrate the most horrid crimes." This play, 

 which La Harpe calls a chef-d'oeuvre of the French theatre, has 

 made its hero a monster of cruelty and injustice, with the view 

 of vilifying religion under the name of fanaticism. But it is at 

 variance with the facts of history, and betrays a gross ignorance 

 of Arabian character and manners. The poet himself confesses 

 that he is unsupported by truth, and roundly alleges, " que celui 

 qui fait la guerre a sa pafrie au nom de Dieu, est capable de 

 tout." — CEuvres de Voltaire, tome xv. p. 282. La Harpe, Coursde 

 Littirature, tome viii. p. 377. Colonel Vans Kennedy has pub- 

 lished an able criticism on this tragedy, e.>:posing its palpable 

 deviations from history as well as from the principles of the 

 drama ; but liis zeal against the literary sins of the infidel French- 

 man baa led him to take a much more favourable view of tha 



