414 



rhetoric of native argument, the regular fabric of epic and dramatic 

 poetry. The influence of truth and reason is of a less ambiguous 

 complexion. The philosophers of Athens and Rome enjoyed 

 the blessings and asserted the rights of civil and religious free- 

 dom. Their moral and political writings might have gradually 

 unlocked the fetters of Eastern despotism, diffused a liberal spirit 

 of inquiry and toleration, and encouraged the Arabian sages to 

 suspect that their caliph was a tyrant, and their prophet an im- 

 postor. The instinct of superstition was alarmed by the intro- 

 duction, even of the abstract sciences; and the more rigid doc- 

 tors of the law condemned the rash and pernicious curiosity of 

 Almamon. To the thirst of martyrdom, the vision of paradise, 

 and the belief of predestination, we must ascribe the invincible 

 enthusiasm of the prince and people. And the sword of the 

 Saracens became less formidable, when their youth was drawn 

 away from the camp to the college, when the armies of the Faith- 

 ful presumed to read and to reflect." 



The effects of the belief in predestination, not only among the 

 Mahomedans just mentioned, but the Indians in general, are won- 

 derful, and pervade their whole conduct. The entrance of the 

 jumma musjid, or grand mosque, in the capital of a district, had 

 been adorned by two lofty miliars; one of them struck by light- 

 ning, fell down at a few feet from its base, and left the other a 

 desolate beauty. On inquiring why the damage was not repaired, 

 the mullah told me their religion did not permit it when produced 

 by such a cause. 



It would be unpardonable to conclude the subject of oriental 

 literature without mentioning Avyau, a celebrated female philo- 



