Si, j t " HOR.E BEING A CONNECTED SERIES OF MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON THE KORAN, THE ZEND-AVESTA, THE VEDAS, THE KINGS, AND THE EDDA. Accipe, fed facilis ! Buchanan ad Mar, Scot. Reg. " All our hiftorical refearches have confirmed the ' Mofaic account of the primitive world." Sir W. Jgnti's %tb Anmv. Dif. PRINTED IN THE YEAR 1802. QUARE quis tandem me reprehendat, fi quantum caeteris ad feftos dies ludorum celebrandos, quantum ad alks voluptates, et ad ipfam requiem animi et corporis conceditur temporis : quantum alii tempeftivis convivUs, quantum aleae, quantum pilze, tantum mibi egomet, ad haec ftudia recolenda, fumpfero. Cic fra drcbia. Luke Hansard, Printer, Great TurnftUe, Lincoln's-Inn Fields. Sfar Ann " 0" .5-1 09 TQ THE EIGHT HONORABLE SIR WILLIAM SCOTT, KNIGHT, JUDOS or HIS MAJESTY'S HIUH COVRT OF ADMIRALT?, IS INSC&IBED, BY HIS MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT, CHARLES BUTLER. Liacoln't-Inn. In the cwrje of next Winter will It publified, BY THE SAME AUTIIO-R, A connected Series of Mifcellaneous Notes, giving a Chronological Account of the GRECIAN, the ROMAN, the CIVIL, the CANON, and the FEUBAL LAW. R^E BIBLIC^E, PART THE SECOND. WI T H a view to imprefs on the memory, the refult of fome miscellaneous reading on different fubje&s, relating to the ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY of the countries con- quered by MAHOMET AND HIS DISCIPLES, the following fheets were committed to paper. They may be found to give, I. A fhort view of the antient hiftory of thofe countries, (hewing their ftate at the time of that event ; under this head will be given fome account of the antient hiftory, ift, of Syria; 2dly, of Perfia } and 3dly, of Africa ; connecting the aeras, men- tioned in the account of Syria, with the rife and fall of Nineve, Babylon, Rome, and Conftantino- ple, to which Syria was fucceflively fubjeft ; and the jeras, mentioned in the account of Perfia, with the leading events of Greece and Rome, antece- B dent 2 HOR^EBIBLTC^. dent to the fame period ; and in the account of Africa, fhortly pointing out the principal occur- rences in the hiftory of that country, before its invafion by the difciples of Mahomet: II. Some mention will then be made of the events which fa- cilitated the conque~ft of tile eaft by the religion and arms of Mahomet; thefe are, ift, the political weaknefs of the weftern and eaftern empires ; arid 2dly, tlie religious difputes among the chriftians of the eaft : III. Some account will then be given of the rife and firft progrefs of the Mahometan reli- gion ; containing a view, ift, of the Geogra- phy, 2dly, of file Eftrly Hiftory of Arabia ; gdly, of the Hegif a and the mode of computing it ; and 4thly, of the extent of the conquefts made by Mdhom,e-t and his immediate fucceffbrs : IV. Mention will then be made of the principal Ma- hometan ftates ; containing an account, ift, of the dynafties and fortunes of the Universal Caliphs ; 2dly, of the Sultans and Sophis of Perfia ; 3dly, of the Sultans and Marnlouc Governors of Egypt; 4thly, of the Caliphs and Sheriffs of Morocco, and the St&tes of Barbary ; Jthly, of the Caliphs of Spain ; 6thly, of the Mahometan Dynafties, which have reigned in Hinduftan ; and ythly, of the Ot- toman Empire : V. The irruptions of the Mogul Tartars under Gengifkhan and Timour into the Afiatic territories, conquered by the difciples of Mahoitietj will then be mentioned : VI. Notice 3 will HOR^BIBLIC/E. 3 will then be taken of fome of the principal at- tempts of the princes of Chriftendom to repel the Mahometans ; under this head an account will be given, I ft, of the Crufades ; adly, of the military orders eftabliflied for the defence of Chriftendom againft the Mahometans ; and 3dly, of the moft important victories which have been gained by the Chriftians over the Mahometans fince the cru- fades : VII. A view will then be given of the religious tenets and literary hiftory of the Maho- metans ; comprifing an account, ift, of the creed, opinions, and rites of the followers of Mahomet ; 2dly, of the Koran ; 3dly, of the Sedls of the Ma- hometans ; 4thly, of the Turkifh. Language; and 5thly, of Turkifli Literature: VIII. A fhort view will then be offered of the actual extent and ftate of the countries where the Mahometan Religion is profefled: IX. Mention will then be made of the principal authors, from whofe writings thefe (heets have been compiled : X. A mifcdlaneous article will be added, containing fome account of the Books held Sacred in the Infidel Coun- tries fubdued or made tributary by the Maho- metans : thefe are the Zend-Avefta, the Vedas, and the Sacred Books of the Chinefe : mention alfo will be made of the Edda, the book fuppofed to have been held facred by the Scandinavian nations. B BTBLIC^E; I. WITH refpedr. to the Antient Hiftory of the countries, where the Religion and Empire of Mahomet took their rife : I. i. The modern word, anfwering to the country called Syria, is Earr-el-fham, or the coun- try to the left, with a reference to Mecca. It is bounded by the Mediterranean on the weft, by the defert of Arabia on the eaft, and from north to fouth it fills the fpace between Cilicia and Mount Amanus, to a line which may be fuppofed to be drawn from Gaza to the defert. A chain of mountains runs through it from north to fouth, with many ramifications ; its mofl elevated point is the Lebanon. Under the Roman Empire it was di- vided into 4 parts, Commagene, Seleucis, or the Syria Propria, Ccele-Syria, or the hollow Syria, from its being inclofed between the Lebanon and the Antilebanon, a mountain that runs parallel with it, and Phoenicia. Ccele-Syria contains Da- mafcus, and the ruins of Palmyra ; Paleftina was added to Syria in later times. . . Before The fcnpture informs us that Achaz, the Chrift. king of Judah, being powerfully attacked by Razin the king of Syria, and by Phaceas, fon of Romelias, the king of Ifrael, invited Theglatphalafar, the king of AfTyria or Nineve r HOR^BIBLIC^E. 5 Before Ctirift. Nineve, to his afliftance, and that he poflef- fedbimfelf of the greateft part of Syria. - 742 Hisfon Salmanazar conquered Judaea, and carried the 10 tribes into captivity to Nineve. Major Rennell, (Geography of Heredotus, fe&ion 15), has produced flrong arguments to prove, that they were afterwards dif- tributed in Media. - - 721 The Chaldaeans or Babylonians, under Afaraddon, who was the grandfon of Sal- manazar, and who united in him the em- pires of Babylon and Nineve, completed the conqueft of Syria, and fent the Cuthites, a people of Aflyria, to inhabit that part of Paleftine called Samaria; from it they took the name of Samaritans. - - 677 Syria was conquered by Cyrus. - - 540 It continued part of the Periian empire, till its overthrow by Alexander the great. - 330 On his deceafe, it fell to Seleucus Nicator, the moft powerful of his fucceffors. From him a long line of fovereigns of Syria, called the Seleucidag, proceeded : it ended in An- tiochus Afiaticus. He maintained an un- fuccefsful war with Lucullus, and was total- ly conquered by Pompey. The kingdom of Syria, was part of the B 3 conqueft, 6 HOR^E BIBLIC^E, Before conqueft, and thereupon made a province of Chrift. the Roman empire. 63 On the divifion of the Empire between Aft<r the fons of Theodofius, it was annexed to n the Empire of Constantinople. - 395 It was the firft of the conquefts of the companions of Mahomet : the conqueft of it was began by them in 632, and in 10 years, was completely finimed. - - 632 It is to be obferved, that, in the vocabulary of the Jews, the word Aram denoted all the country on the north of Paleftine to Cappadocia, on the fouth-, to the confines of Egypt and the Red Sea, and on the eaft, to, the confines of Media and Perfia ; fome have thought that, in the notions of the Jews, it included Aflyria and ftretched beyond the Tigris. The word Elam denotes Perfia and the countries further to the eaft. I. 2. Oftheantient kingdoms of the eaft, the hiftoryof none is more important than the Perjian, " The Perfian empire in general," fays Sir William Oufely, " is properly called Iran. The " word Perfia is derived from Pars, the name of " a province the moft refpeclable, as being the " ufual refidence of the kings. The name in " modern compofitions, is moft commonly written " Fars after the Arabian manner." It lay north and fouth between Media and the Perfian gulph, and 7 and between the Tigris to the weft, md the Ari- anan countries to the eaft, There are few coun- tries, of the geography of which our information is lefs accurate, Sir William Qufejy's proinifed map -of it, is exacted by the literary wprld with great impatience. Jt is fuppoied to have been founded by Befr Caiumarus, probably the king of Elam, mentioned in the Scripture. His grandCon, 890 by his juftice and excellent Jaws, obtained the name of Piihdad or the iegiflator ; from his, this dynafty acquired the name of Piilidadians ; it ended about, ,- - 633 This period nearly corresponds with that in thehiftory of dje Jews, which ^gifijs with the reign of Jofaphat,in Judah, and with the rlrft enterprises of Neb^chodonoibr againit Jerufaletn, About the beginning of it, Ho- mer and He(k>d flourished, the Empire of Nineve was founded; the ages, which Varro termed fabulous, expired ; and towards die end of it, the empire of Rome, began. The Pilhdadian dynafty was Succeeded by the Caianian family in 600 It began with Cai-Caus, from whom it takes its name ; he is called by our writers, Darius the Mede ; his fon Cai Khofru, is our Cyrus. The territory, known at that time, by the name of Perfia, filled the fpaee between Media, tlue Perfic gulph, 5uiiania, B 4 and 8 and Caramania. Cyrus fubdued the king- Befors doms of Nineve and Media, and almoft all Afia Minor. Thefe with Perfia, formed what is called in antient hiftory, the Perfian empire : it extended from the Hellefpont to the Indus ; and its northern limits were the Euxine, Cafpiari, and Aral feas. - 568 The Piftidadian family ended with the battle of Arbela, when Daraor Darius the the younger was conquered by Alexander the great, and the monarchy of the Caia- nians was transferred to the Greeks. - 230 This period includes the Babylonifh. cap- tivity, the return of the Jews under Cyrus, the decree of Artaxerxes, permitting the Jews to rebuild the temple, the confirma- tion of their rights by Alexander the great ; the battles of Marathon and Pla- tosa, the Peloponefian war, the conquefts of Alexander the great, the hiftory of Rome from its beginning to the expuliion of the Tarquins. After this, a race of Perfian monarchs, called Afhcanians from Afliac the founder of the race, is fuppofed to have reigned in the eaftern parts of Perfia, till about a cen- tury after the birth of Chrift. To this period muft be referred the un- fortunate difputes among the Jews refpecl:- jne the priefthood, the atchieveme.nts of the Afmonaeans, BIB LI C^. 9 Afmonaeans, die intercourfe of the Tews Before Chrift* with their Afiatic and African neighbours, the verfion of the feventy, the fubjeclion of the Jews to the Romans and the Idumaean fovereigns appointed by them ; the divifion of Alexander's empire among his principal generals, their wars with the Greeks, the firft and fecond Punic war, the conquefts of the Romans , Marius, Sylla, Pompey, and Caefar. During this period, Perfia loft much of A ftr its territory, the Romans conquered from them the country on the well of the Tau- rus, and the Parthians drove them from Up- per Afia. The Saffanian dynafty fucceeded the A(h- canian. It began about the beginning of the 3d century, by the revolt of Ardefher Babegan, our Artaxerxes, the fon of Saflan, a man in alow fituation of life, but of royal extraction : from SafTan, the dynafty had its appellation. The princes of it reigned in Perfia till the Mahometan invafion ; and fpeaking generally, the boundaries of Perfia, were, during that dynafty, nearly the fame as they are at prefent. - 2Q2 Under Shapor, Mani broached his errors, and thereby fowed the feed of the Mani- chaean herefy. Its principal object was to reconcile, ge- nerally, 10 HOR^SBIBLIC^. nerally, with the tenets of the chriftian rclL ,,,.,-, , , , , , Chrjft. gion, the belief that the world ana its phoe- nomena, proceeded from two eternal and necefTary caufes ; one eiTentially good, the other eflentially evil. - - 242 Nufliirvan the great, known in Europe by the name of Cofroes, the laft of this dy-r nafty, began his reign in - 530 During his reign Mahomet -was born. - 569 I. 3. Africa, another of the earlieft conquefU of the Mahometans, lies between the i8th degree of weft, and the 5<Dth degree of caft longitude, and reaches from the 35th degree of fouth to the 37th degree of north latitude : it is bounded on the north by the Mediterranean, on the weft by the Atlantic, on the fouth by the fouthern ocean, on the eaft by the red fea and the Indian ocean. The Romans divided it, excluiively of Egypt, into the Cyrenaica, including Marmarica now Barca ; the regia Syrtica, or the country between the two Syrtes, now Tripoly ; Africa Propria, the Territory of the Carthaginians, now Tunis ; Numidia, now Algiers ; and Mauritania, now Morocco and Fez ; under the names of Libya and fouth ^Ethiopia, they comprifed its central parts. Jthas afforded fewer materials for hiilory Before f , , . , / Cbrift. than any otiier of the three continents of the antient \vorid. The exploits of Hercuies in its weftern extremities, and his {ailing through HOR^E BI'BLIC^E. through the (freights of Gibraltar, are al- inoft the only circumftances, which occa- iion the mention of Africa in the hiftory of the fabulous ages. - - - 1250 The link which connects its fabulous and authentic hillory is the foundation of Cai>- thage. - - 868 The hiftory of Carthage may be divided into three periods : during the firft, the ce- lebrated circumnavigation of Africa was performed, by Phcenician mariners, em- ployed by Pharaoh Necho. They failed from the red fea, and, in the 3d year of their voyage, pafled the columns of Hercules, and returned to Egypt. - 6iQ To this period Mr. Falconer, (who, on the age of the Periplus of Hanno, has invincibly refuted the contrary opinion of Dodwell), afligns the voyage of Hanno. Major Ren- nell recognizes, in Hanno's account, the capes Bianco and De Verd, the rivers of Senegal and Gambia, the ifland of Cerne, the bay of Biflago, anfwering to Hanno'* Weftern Horn, the mountain of Sangaree, anfwering to his chariot of the Gods, and Sherbro' Bay, anfwering to his Southern: Horn, where the fecond voyage terminated. 570 To the fame period, the Baron de St. roix (Hiftoire de 1' Academic des Infcrip- tions* 12 tions, Tom. 43), fixes the voyage of Scy- Before lax. By the command of Darius Hyftafpes, he failed with a fquadron, from Pactya the modern Pehteley : and, in two years and fix months, reached the Arabian gulph. - 462 Thevfirft period of the hiftory of Car- thage ends with the invaiion of Sicily by the Carthaginians ; The fecond, with the commencement of the conflict between Rome and Carthage ; The third, with the deftruclion of Car- thage. - The next memorable event in the hiftory of Africa is the Jugurthan war. - 107 The only other event of confequence, in its hiftory, before the birth of Chrift, is the war of Caefar in Africa. - 45 Genferic, who reigned over the Vandals chri". in Spain, conquered Africa from the Romans. 428 It was reconquered by Belifarius, and from that time continued fubjeft to the Emperor of the weft, till it was invaded by the Saracens. Such was the Geography, and fuch were the outlines of the Hiftory of the countries we have mentioned at the period under confideration. HOR-ffi BIBLIC^. 13 II. WITH refpeclrto the events which facilitated the conqueft of them by the arms and religion of Mahomet : * II. i ft. Both the Weftern and Eajlcrn Empire were then in their lowcjljlate of political Imbecility. The Vandals, Suevi and Alani, who inha- A fr bited the countries bordering on the Baltic, made an irruption into Gaul, about the year 408 ; and from Gaul advanced into Spain. - - 408 About the year 415, they were driven from Spain by the Vifigoths, and invaded Africa, where they formed a kingdom. - 41 r Between the year 401 and the year 420, the Franks, the Allemanni, and the Bur- gundians penetrated into Gaul. Of thefe nations, the Franks became the moft power- ful, and, having either expelled or fubdtied the others, made themfelves m afters of the whole of thofe extenfive provinces, which from them, received the name of France. - 420 Pannonia and Illyricum were conquered by the Huns ; Rhcetia, Noricum and Vin- delicia, by the Oftrogoths ; and thefe, fome time after, were conquered by the Franks. In 449, the Saxons invaded England. - 449 The H O R JE B I B L I C JE. Herulians, marched into Italy, After under the command of their king Odoacer, and overturned the empire of the weft. - 476 From Italy they were expelled by the Oftrogoths. - - 493 About the year 568, the Lombards, iffuing from the mark of Brandenburgh, invaded the Higher Italy, and founded an empire, called the kingdom of the Lombards. - 568 After this, little remained in Europe of the Weftern Empire, befides the middle and inferior Italy. Thefe, on the divifion of that empire between the fons of Theodofius in 395, had fallen to the (hare of the emperor of the eafl : he governed them by an officer called an Exarch, whole refidence was fixed at Ravenna, and by fome fubordinate officers called Dukes. In 743, the exarchate of Ravenna, and all the remaining pofleffions of the Emperor in Italy, were conquered by the Lombards. This, as it was the final extinction of the Roman empire in Europe, was the comple- tion, in that quarter of the globe, of thofe conquefts which eftabliflied the feudal law. 743 The nations, by whom thefe conquells were made, came, it is evident, from different countries, at different periods, fpoke different languages, and were under the command of feparate leaders ; yet BIBLIC^E. 15 vet they appear to have eftablilhed, in almoft every flate which they conquered, nearly the fame fyf- tem of laws. This fyftem is known by the appellation of the Feudal Law, and the eftabhfh- ment of it is one of the moft memorable events in hiftory. At the time of Mahomet's appearance,, all of them were in the utmoffc coafufion. They hau completed their conqueft over monarchy ; but neither the extent of their kingdoms, nor their forms of government were fettled; the fury which accompanied them in their conquefts was fpent, they had funk into a ftate of debility, and no bond of union connected them together. If the period of the chriftian sera were to be mentioned, when there was leaft of order, lead of power, lead of fcience, and leaft of intercourfe in Europe, it would be that century which imme- diately preceded, and that which immediately fol- lowed the commencement of the Hegira. The eaftern empire ftill contained Greece, Thrace, Alia Minor, Mefopotamia, Syria, Palef- tine, Egypt, Africa, and a part of Italy : but it had been exhaufted by a fucceffion of foreign wars and civil diflentions ; by repeated ravages of Barbarians, by oppreflion in the capital, extor- tion in the provinces, weak councils, lawlefs armies and a disorderly court. II. 2. To complete the calamity, both tlu church and Jlate^ were, at the time we f feck of* 16 equally weakened by religious controverfy and perfecu* tion. -The lad of thefe circumftances was, in a particular manner the caufe of the rapid fuccefs of Mahometanifm. Very foon after the introdu&ion of Chrif- Year tianity, a fondnefs for the philofophy of cimft. Plato and Pythagoras, led many to invefli- gate the myfteries of the trinity, and of the divinity and humanity of Jefus Chrift, with too much curiofity. Praxcas maintained, that there was but one perfon in the trinity, and that the Father was the fame as the Jefus who was crucified. - 193 The fame herefy, withfome modification, was adopted by Noetus. - 239 With a fimilar notion of preserving the unity of the divine fubftance, without giving up the trinity, Sabellius reduced the three perfons of the trinity to one and the fame being, manifefting himfelf by 'two diftin6t operations, or energies moving from himfelf, called the fon and the holy ghoft. - - 257 Arius, in avoiding the error of Sabellius, afferted Jefus Chrift to be a creature drawn out of nothing, by the father, and fubtifting by his will, but begotten before all other beings, and participating, by his father's gift, in his effence and glory. He was condemned by the general council of Nice. - - 325 To fupport the cortfubftantiality of the fo BIB LIC A 17 fort with the father,' Apollinaris contended Year of . . . -, ,- /~ii /< i i Chrift. agamft Anus, that Jefus Cnriit had not an human foul; he was condemned by the fixth council of Rome. - 377 In opposition to him, Theodore of Mop- fueftes maintained, that Jefus Chrift had a ibul tliitincl: from the word, and performed actions, which were only referrible to that foul. Without it, according to him, it would be neceflary to fuppofe, that, the divinity fu'ffcrcd,. the divinity increafed in tyifdoni. - 4.28 * Nefiorius carried the fyftem further ; lie aflerted the exigence of two diftin6l perfons in Chrift, that one was eternal, infinite, in- treate ; that the other originated in rime, was finite, and had been created. His doc- trine was condemned by the third council of Ephefus. 43,4 Eutyches fell into the oppofite extreme, affeiting, that, in Jefus Chrift, the divine nature only exifted; his humanity being ab- forbed by it, as a drop of water by the ocean. Thus it was the error of Neftorius to divide the perfon, the error of Eutyches to con- found the two natures of Chrift. The doc- trine of Eutyches was condemned by the council of Chalcedon, in - 451 In opposition to the Eutychians, fome C Monks ,8 HOR/EBlBLlC-ffi. After Monks of Scythia aflerted the- propofition , Chrift. " one of the trinity has fuffered for us." - 520 Pope John the 2d, in a letter to the em- peror Juftinian, approved of the propofition, it being explained to mean, that the fecond perfon of the trinity fuffered in the flefh. - 534 The' unity of god, the trinity of perfons, being thus eftabliihed in the godhead, and the two natures and unity of perfon being thus eftabliihed in the fon t>f God, a difpute arofe on the nature of his will. Theodore, the bifhop of Pharan in Arabia, aflerted, and Sergius, the patriarch of Conftantinople, adopted his aflertion, that, in Jefus Chrift, though there were two natures, there was but one will. This gave them and their adherents the name of Monothelites. Their herefy was finally condemned in the council at Rome, in - 649 Marcian, and Leo, his immediate fuccefibr in the throne of Conftantinople, enforced the decrees of the council of Chalcedon, with great rigor. The emperor Juftinian enacted many laws, againft Heretics, Pagans, Jews and Samaritans, and caufed them to be carried into execution with great feverity. To all of them he offered the alternative of orthodoxy or exile. The number of thofe who preferred the latter was <(vas p,reat; and the three Arabias offered them a fecure retreat : to thole therefore they fled. III. WITH refpel to the Rife and Firft Pro- grefs of the Mahometan Religion : III. i. Arabia, where it tuft took its rife, extends in longitude from the 51 ft to the yyth degree, and in latitude, from the iath to the 34th. It forms a peninfula, bounded by Syria and Paleftine on the north-weft, by the Perfian gulph and the weftern borders of the Euphrates towards the north-eaff, by the Indian fea on the fouth-eaft, and by the red fea on the fouth-weft. It is divided into the ftony, the fandy, and the happy Arabia. The mountains of Horeb and Sinai are in the ftony Arabia, the cities of Mecca and Medina are in the fandy Arabia. - " The Arabs," fays Mr. Sale^ " have preferved their liberty, of which few na- " tions can produce fuch antient monuments) " even from the very deluge; for, though very " great armies have been fent againft them, all " attempts to fubdue them were unfuccefsful." He {hews that, as a nation, they were always independent, as individuals, they always poflefled the higheft degree of domeftic freedom. III. 2. The inhabitants of Arabia have been divided into two clafles, the old and new. The C * old 20 HOR^BIBLICJE. old are wholly loft : the new are fuppofed to have fprung from two (locks, Kahtan, the fon of Heber* a great grandfon of Sem, and Adnan, a defcendant, in a dire6l line, from Ifmael, the fon of Abraham and Hager. The former are faid to be the genuine or pure Arabs, cr, as the natives call them, 'Arabs through Arabs ; the latter are the meilif or mixed Arabs. Ifmael, through whom thefe profefs to defcend, was a Jew : by his marriage with a daugh- ter of Mbrad, a defcendant from Kahtan, he in- grafted his pofterity on the Arabic flock. Mahomet defcen;:ed from Ifmael in a firait iine, from male to male, and from elded fon. td eldeft fon. In tracing his genealogy, three feries of defcenrs are diftinguifhed : the firft from Ifmael to Adnan, in which all is uncertainty ; the feconcl from Adnan to Fehr, furnamed the Koreiili ; the third from Fehr to Mahomet. The defcents from Adnan are afcertained with tolerable certainty ; from Fehr, the Koreifh, confefiedly the moft eminent of the tribes of the Arabs, originated. A traditionary account, which the Arabians hold lac red, has tranfmitted every name which enters into thk long pedigree ; and though we Jhoukl confider it fabulous, it is a fable adopted by the nation, and fables adopted by a nation are, like truths adopted by her, .the foundation of the rights of the families, of which (he is compofed. Beiides, it is well ; 2 known, HOR^EBIBLICJE. 21 known, with what care tht ancient nations- of the eaft preferved the memory of their deicents : their pedigrees make their hiftory. According to them, when Abraham expelled Ifmael and Agar from his houfe, limael wandered to that part of Arabia, where Mecca now ftands, and which then was a mere defert ; there, tormented with- thirft and worn down with fatigue, he miruculoufly- difco- vered the well, mentioned in the hock of Genefis. He remained in its neighbourhood till che death of Agar : then he proceeded to the northern parts of Arabia. He found them peopled witft the dfii- fcendants of the patriarch Heber. Soon after- wards, he married ; and having continued a con- fiderable time in the northern part or Arabia, he quitted it, and with a large family, and numerous flocks of fheep and herds of cattle, returned to Agar's well. Before his journey to Arabia, the tribe of the Gioramides had eftablifhed itielf in South Arabia: they advanced afterwards to the North, and fixed in a fpot, about 90 leagues diftant from Agar's well: there they laid the foundation of the city of Yatreb, to which Mahomet gave the name of? Medina. Thus, even as early as the days of Ifmael, the Mahometan writers find in Arabia, the- rival cities of Mecca and Medina, and the rival tribes by which they were inhabited. The Gioramides afterwards returned to the- C 3 South, South, and pofleffed themfelves of Agar's well ; Ifmael reclaimed it ; the diipute was fettled by an alliance between the tribes ; limael marrying Vaala,-the daughter of Modal, the chief of the Gioramides, and receiving with her, in marriage, the well and the territories adjacent. Ifmael built, in the middle of his poffeflions, the celebrated Caaba, or fquaie houfe, in honor ot the God of Abraham. The Mahometans aflert that, by the order of God, Abraham ailifted Ifmael in building it ; and that it was formed on the model of a limilar building, which Seth had creeled from a veprefentation, let down from heaven at the prayer of Adam, and which had been deftroyed by the deluge. A black ftone in it became an object of great veneration from the notion of its having been brought to Abraham by the angel Gabriel to reft upon, while he was directing the building, and on which Abraham had left the print of his feet. Agar's well is now called the Well of Zenrzem. Infenfibly, by the increafe of Ifmael's descendants, and a conflux of ftrangers, attracted by the celebrity of the place, the neighbourhood of the Caaba and the well became very populous. The descendants of Ifmael were the firft princes of the city and the .firft priefts of the temple. But the great graudfon of limael leaving, at his deceafe, two children of very tender years, the chief of the tribe of the Gioramides pofleffed him- felf bpth of the city and the temple. They were HOR.fl3BIBLIC.ffi. 13 Before were recovered by the Tfmaelites, about Chrift. three centuries afterwards. - I 343 The Gioramide prince, before he aban- doned Mecca, threw into Agar's well, the whole treafure of the temple, and the prin- cipal objects of devotion in it, and particu- larly the black ftone ; he then filled up the well with rubbifh. The Gioramides, thus driven back *o Yatreb, preferved for ten centuries its fo- vereignty. About 300 years before the chriftiaa aera, an inundation in the fouthern part of Arabia, forced many of the tribes into its northern parts. Two of them pof- feffed themfelves of Yatreb, another fixed their feat in a fertile valley at the diftance of a day's journey from Mecca, and built a town there, called Batenmor. - 312 Idolatry had long made great progrefs in Arabia ; it owed its origin to the aftrono- mical obfervations of the Arabians. Brought up as we are, from our eariieft infancies, in juft notions of the deity, we find it difficult to conceive how the mind can reft on any object in the univerfe, however fplendid or wonderful, without rifing to the fublime being, who called it into exiftence. In the earlier age of the world, the view of the heavens was a ilrong incentive to fuperfti- C 4 . tion. M- H G- IB. B I B L I lion. Job felt its force: -in the folemn pro- Before teftation made by him of his integrity in the obfervance of his duties, he calls God to witnefs, that, " as he beheld the fun, when !' it flamed, or the moon walking in bright- " nefs, his heart had never been fecretly ' enticed, his mouth had never luffed his " hand." In their journies through their immenfe deferts, the Arabians had no other guides than the ftars ; they obferved the regu- larity of their motions; they fuppofed them directed by intellectual beings inferior to God, but fuperior to man. This worfhip of the (tars led them to form ftatjes with their name, and to make talifmans, which they fuppofed of fufficient power to regulate their influence. They generally believed the fcriptural hiftory of the creation, and the deluge ; refpecled Abraham and other pa-^ triarchs ; read the book of the pfalms, and had other books which they accounted fa- cred, particularly a collection of moral dif- courfes which they called the book of Seth. Their .fuperftitious credence is known by the appellation of Sabaifm. In the midfl of this general idolatry, the defcendants of Ifmael, who united in them- felves, the titles of princes of Mecca and guardians of its temple, were depofitaries of the primitive worfliip. Among them, Caab is HOR^EBIBLIC^. 25 is particularly dhlinguifhed : on every fri- day, he aflembled the faithful, and difcourfcd 'to them on the unity of God. Yet idolatry gained ground, and, at the death of Kelab, the grandlbn of Caab, the worlhip of the true God is faid, by the Arabian writers,' to have been confined to the temple of Mecca. Caab left two fons; Kofa his eldeft fon was, for a time rfifpoffefieci of his fovereignty by Amrou, his younger brother : he intro- duced the worlhip of idols into the temple ; and Kofa had not fufficient influence with his tribe to remove them. His grandfon Hafchem fucceeded to the fovereignty, about the beginning of the fixth century of the chriilian acra. - 500 He was the great-grandfather of Maho- met, and the ableft of the Meccan princes. He introduced commerce into his ftate by the eftablifliment of two caravans, one for South Arabia, the other for Syria. - 577 Abdo'lmotalleb, his only fon, fucceeded his father, and purfued, with fuccefs, his views for the aggrandizement and wealth of his ftate. To him, according to the Maho- metan writers, the place of Agar's well was difcovered: he cleared it from its rubbifl), and dug up the black {lone. Abdollah, the eldeft fon of Abdo'lmotalleb, died in his father'% 26 H O R M 11 1 B L I C JR. ~ Befcr? father's life-time, leaving Mahomet his eldeft thrift. fon. - - 578 At the age of fix years, Mahomet loft his mother : at her deceafe, Abdo'lmotalcb, his grandfather, took him under his care, but he dying at the end of two years, Abu- taleb, the eldeft furviving fon of AbJo'lmo- taleb, and who, in that quality, fucccedcd to the dignities of prince of Mecca and priefr. of the temple, undertook the care of Mahomet's education : he made him his companion in the caravans he conducted, and the wars he carried on. This was the life Mahomet led, till he attained his twenty-fifth year ; when he married Kadija, who was his relation, and a widow in wealthy circum- ' fiances. - - - -602 - * All accounts of Mahomet agree that from his carlieft years, he was religiouily inclined, and fhcwed great zeal againft idolatry, and a ftrong wifli for its extirpation. It is faid, that Ser- gius, a Neftorian monk, remarked this difpa- fition in him, when, in his 1 3th year, he accom- panied his father to the monaftery in which Sergius refided- After his marriage, his leal redoubled, and he gave himfelf up to a myftic and contemplative life. Once a year, he fhut himfelf up for a whole month, in a cavern of q. mountain, about three miles diftant from Mecca, to HOR^EBI^LIC^E. 27 to meditate, without interruption, on religious fub- jecls. His temperance and ample chanties to the poor procured him univerfal refpe<it ; his piety was fo generally acknowledged, that, a difpute arifmg, who (hould have the honor of placing the black ftone in the temple of Mecca, the voice of the people unanimoufly deferred it to him. His mode of life could not but increafe the fanaticifm of an imagination, naturally ardent ; at the age of 40, he publickly affumed the character of a pmphet fent by God, to re-eftablim, in its purity, the reli- gion of Abraham and Ifmael. III. 3. He addrefTed a willmg audience of armed profelytes, who would follow him with fanaticifm equal to his own, whofe powerful onfe.t neither the eaftern nor weftern empire was likely to refift, whom firft victories would elevate to irrefiftihle valor and enterprize, and who would fpread themfelves over the world with all the zeal ..of miffionaries, and the ambition of conquerors. At .firft he met with fome refinance, and in coniequence of it, was obliged to fly from Mecca to Medina, a difb.nce of about 170 miles, 'i his was in the 622d year of the chriftian aera. With this year the Mahometans begin their epocha of the Hegira or Flight. Their year is lunar ; and confequently fhorter by n days than the folar year. Thefe II days, at the end of 33 years, form a fclar year ; fo that the 33d year of the hegira, is only the 3 ad folar year from the hegira. Mr. 28 H O R JE B I B L I C M. Mr. Dallavvay, in his Confiantinopl'e antienf and modern, page 390, infcrts the foilo\ving cal- culation of the hegira for the year 1796. " If the " firft year of the hegira be fubtracted from 1796, " the remainder will be 1 174. But as the Maho- " metaas reckon by lunar years, confiiUng only ** of 354 days, of co.urfe, in 33 years, they will " gain 263 da\s, or al.moft another year. y m y m h m fee. " Now 33 : 1 2 : i : o : io d : 2 1 : 49 : $ T \ or al- " moft II days, \vhichxii74, will give 1,2984 f* days or 35$!$ years. But 35 + 1174 = 1 209. " So that including the fradion, the laft year, " ( ! 796)> w ^^ ^ e tne : 2 loth year of the hegira." III. 3. The extent of the cenqttefts made by Atfa- homet, and his immediate fucceiTors in the caliphate, called his companions, is one of the moft furprizing events mentioned in hiitory. The three Arabias were fubdued by Mahomet ; Abubeker, his immediate fucceflor, aiTumed from refpe6l and in reference to him, the title of Caliph, or Vicar, and, in this, was followed by a long line of fucceffors. Very foon after Mahomet's deceafe, his difciples wer^ generally l^nown, among the chriftians, by the appellation of Saracem. Abubeker addrefled them a circular letter, in. which he fhortly acquainted them, that, " he " intended fending fome true believers into Syria " to take it out of the hands of the Infidels :" and " defired them to obferve, that fighting for " religion HORy"E BIBLIC^. zg ** religion was an act of obedience to God.'* This was a general declaration of war by the Mahometans againft all mankind, who fhould not feinbrace their religious principles. From the avowed object of the war, they called it the * holy war," and thus, to ufe theexpreflion of the author of 1'Efprit des Croifades, (Tom. I. p. 116), " It was the model and the juflification of the " crufadcs." Such was the fuccefs of their enter-, prize, that, in lefs than a century from the com- rnenfement of the hegira, they fpread the religion of Mahbiiiet, from the Atlantic Ocean, to India and Tartafy ; and his fucceflbrs reigned in Syria, Perfia, Egypt, Africa and Spain. Since that time, they have been expelled from Spain; but have conquered the kingdoms of Vifapour and Golconda in India, the illands of Cyprus and Rhodes and the Cyclades, and have made large territorial aequiiitions in Tartary, Hungary and Greece. Jerufalem was taken by the generals of Omar, the 2d Caliph. " The defcriptions," fays Monf. Anquetil, (Precis de 1'Hiiloire Univerfelle, Tom. V. p. 40), " which the hiftorians of the cam- " paigns of the Saracens in Jucla:a, give of their " fertility and their numerous towns, enriched by " commerce, agree with the defcriptions given of " them by the facred penmen, and lliew that they " have been unjuftly accufed of exaggeration, for " callmg it the land of milk and honey. W hat is " become. jo HOR^i BIBLIC^E. ** become, under the dominion of the Turks, of " the fields watered by the Tigris and Euphrates?'* IV. WITH refped to the Principal Mahometan States: IV. i. In the hiflory of Mahometaniftn the Dynafties and Fortunes of the Univerfal Caliphs fill a large fpace* The four firft of them are diftinguifhed by the appellation of Companions of Mahomet, and ca- liphs of the right line. They reirned from the death' of Mahomet, which happened in the eleventh year of the Hegira, or the 6^zd year of Chrift, to the 4<Dth year of the Hegira, or the 66ift year of Chrift. The three firft caliphs refided at Medina; Ye;ir AH transferred his refidence to Coufah, town in Chaldzea, or the Babylon! til Irak, fituate on the right bank of the Euphrates. 41 The four firft caliphs are confidered to have been elected by the general and free voice of the whole body of the people. This gives their Caliphate a rank above thofe of their fucceffors. Their's is the perfect, that of their fucceflbrs, is the imperfect, caliphate. After the affafiination of AH and the refig- nation of Haflan, his eldeft fon Moaviah was elected caliph. He was great grandfon of Ommyiah, who was of the fame family as Mahomet. He made the caliphate heredi- of the HOR^E BIBLIC^S. tary in his family, and fourteen of his de- fcendants, (a collateral relation being fome-pj eo .; times called to the fucceflion, in preference to the lineal heir), poffeflfed the caliphate in fucceffion. From Ommyiah it is called the dynafty of the Ommiades. Moaviah transferred the feat of the caliphate to Damafcus. To Welid the ift, the prevalence of the Arabic language in the countries conquered by the difciples of Mahomet, is owing. He ordered that the Greek language fhould be no longer ufed, and that the Arabic fhould be fubftituted for it. Under him the caliphate had its largeft extent of territory. It reached from Spain to China, and China was its tributary. - 05 It was even, for a time, uncertain, whe- ther the arms of the Saracens would not overthrow all Europe. At the head of an immenfe army, Abderame, by the order of the Caliph Hafheim, crofled the Pyrenees, patted the Rhone, took Aries, over-run Aqui- taine and reached the banks of the Loire ; there he was met and completely defeated by Charles Martel. _ - - 114 Mervan the 2d, the lafl prince of the dynafty of the Ommiades, died in - 133 The reafon affigned by the Ommiades, for their rifmg againft Ali, was his conni- Vear of Chrift. 732 75 vancc 3 3 HOR^SBIBLIC^E. vance in the murder of Othman, his imrhe- X ear diate predeceflor. The Aba.Tides role againft ^ n \^ the Ommiades, on pretence of revenging on them, the death of A]i. By the defeat and murder of Mervan the 2d, they poflefled themfelves of the caliphate, and Aboul Abbas was elected caliph. At firft, he fixed his refiderice at Coufah; thence transferred it to Hafchemiah, on the Euphrates. Abou Giafar Almanzor, his immediate fucceiTor, built the town of Bagdat. Till the extinc- tion* of the Abaffidan dynafly, that town was die principal refidence of the caliphs ; and there, having completely abandoned the fimplicity of the firft caliphs, they difplayed all the magnificence and ceremonial of the Perfian and Byrantine courts. From their refidence in .that city, the AbarTIdes are ufually called the caliphs of Bagdat, in con- tradiftin6tion from the Ommiades, who, from the country in which they refided, are called the caliphs .of Syria. They were fuprenie both in church and (late. The power of the caliphs was preferved under the Ommiades, without any fenfible diminution. It flourilhed greatly, under the firft of the Abaflides. By the orders of Abdallah the 3d, an account was taken of the perTohs then living of that race, and they were found to exceed 33,000. - - 201 BIBLIC^. 13 The fplendor of the caliphate began to Year decline under Motaflfem, the 8th of the Abaf-Hi-ira. fides. He firft introduced, into the fervice of the caliphs, the Turks, their future matters - - 218 Radhi, the 2Oth caliph of the Abaflides, was the lad by whom the caliphate was pofleffed with any degree of fplendor ; " the " laft," fays Abulfeda, " who harangued 329 " the people from the pulpit, who paffed <' the cheerful hours of leifure with men of " learning and tafte ; whofe expence, reve- *' nues and treafures, whofe table or magni- " ficence had any refemblance to thofe of " the ancient caliphs." From being the moft powerful fovereigns of the eaftern world, they, foon after hi time, were re- duced to the meaneft and moft fervile of- fices, to the loweft Itate of degradation and contempt. The extent of their dominions made it neceffary that they ihould employ governors in the remoter provinces, and inveft them with unlimited powers : fymptoms of dil- obedienee foon appeared among them. The revolt of Spain was the firft fue- cefsful rebellion againft them. The ex- ample was generally followed ; and, long before the final extin&ionof the Abaffidan dy- nafly, the empire of the caliphs was divided D among Year of Ihrift. 833 34 HORuEBIBLIC^E. among a number of independent princes. Y * r If C t 11 fthe Many of them were known by the appella- Hegira. tion of Emirs. The hiftory of thefe revolts is the princi- pal fubjecl: of the annals of the Saracens, during the loth century of the chriftian aera, or the period from the 288th to the 391(1 year of the Hegira. Among thefe revolts, two deferve particular attention : that of Obeidollah, who founded the Fatimite dy~ natty in Africa, and that of Moez Ledinilla, (the founh in fucceflion from him), who conquered Syria and Egypt, and founded Grand Cairo. - - - - 391 Similar revolts are the fubject of the an- nals of the Saracens in the following cen- tury. It is particularly remarkable for the conquefts of Mahmood of Gazna, the firft Mahometan prince who bore the title of Sultan ; and for the rife of the Seljouk Turks,one of the many nations that occupied the territory between the Euxine and the Cafpian feas. - - 494 The next century is remarkable for the difmemberment of the Caliphate by the Atabeks, or lieutenants, who formed four feparate and independent dynafties, which reigned in the Arabian Irak, in Aderbi- gian or Media, in Pars or Perfia, and in Lariflan, 35 Year of the Lariftan, or the country on the Perflan Hegira. gulph. - . 529 By degrees the Caliphs were deprived of all temporal power, and were even reduced to beg for alms, They frequently made attempts to reftore themfelves to their for- mer confequencc, but were ultimately un- fuccefsful. Moftazem, the 56th Caliph, was dethron- ed and put to death by Houlagou Khan, the nfth of the Gingkizhanidan Moguls. - 656 Moftanzer Billah, a fon or pretended fon of Dahef, the laft but one of the caliphs, thereupon fled into Egypt ; and he and his fucceflbrs to the number of eighteen, were confidered to be the Imans or fpiritual chiefs of the Mahometan reli- gion, but without the flighteft veftfge of temporal authority. With Moftanzer, the univerfal caliphate is ge- nerally confidered to end. The caliphs, diftin- guifhed by the appellation of companions of Ma- homet, were four ; the next fourteen caliphs were of the dynafty of the Ommiades ; the remaining forty-five were of the dynafty of the Abaffides twenty-feven of thefe reigned before Moftanzer's flight into Egypt, the fucceeding eighteen refide in Egypt. All were called the Univerfal Ca- liphs in contradiftinc~lion from the other prince: who took the title of caliph : whatever tempora D 2 power 36 HOR^E BIBLICA power was poffefled by thofe caiiphs, the univerfal caliphs alone are confidered to have had the Immaneth or fpiritual power. IV. 3. Egypt is a narrow vale on each fide of the Nile, widening where the river branches off before it empties itfelf into the Mediterranean. The Romans divided it into the Lower and Up- per Egypt : the Lower extended from the Mediter- ranean, to the fouthern point of the Delta ; there Upper Egypt commenced. It was divided into Heptanomis, the country extending to Said, and the Thebais, or the coun- try reaching from Said to ^Ethiopia. Egypt was antiently called Mizraim. It is faid to have been Subject to Cham, a grandfon of Noah. (2i8S A. C.) On his deceafe, it was divided into feve- ral principalities, all of which, about the year 687 A.C., beame united in Amenophis. Soon after his deceafe, they were again divided; and, in. the perfon of Pfammiticus were again united. Egypt was conquered by Cambyfes, King of Per- fia, in 525 A. C. It continued fubject to the Perfians till, in 413, it was conquered from them by Amyrrheus. From that time it was an indepen- dent kingdom, and governed by its own fovereigns, till it was conquered by Artaxerxes Ochus, king of Perfia, in 350 A. C. From that, to the prefent time, no native of Egypt has ever been itsfovereign. It remained a province of Perfia, till, on the death of Alexander the Great, in 325, it was feizedby * Ptolemy 3; Ptolemy Lagus. His defcendants held it till it was reduced to a Roman province. Year of the It was conquered from the Romans by Hegira Amrou, one of Omar's generals, in - 21 On the difmemberment of the caliphate, Abou-Obeidollah, who pretended to defcend from AH and Fatima, poflefled himfelf of it. 297 With him the dynafty of the Fatimite caliphs began ; it ended in Ahded, the I ith prince of the dynaily. - ^67 He was conquered by Saladin, the Sul- tan of Damafcus and Aleppo, one of the moft humane, able, and powerful princes who have profefled the Mahometan reli- gion. He was a declared enemy of the Fatimite feel:, and ordered the name of the Caliph of Bagdad to be inferted in all the public prayers. He gained over the chrif- tians the battle of Hittin near Tiberias, which was foon followed by the conqueft of all the towns poflefled by the chriftians in Syria. - - 583 He was of the Ayoubite dynafty. One of the princes of this dynafty having pur- chafed twelve thoufand Kaptchac Turks, formed out of them a body ot troops, to whom he committed the care of his perfon. Some of them he raifed to the rirft employ- ments in the ftate : they depofed his f uccef- D 3 for, Year of Chrift. 641 909 II7I IlSy 58 HORJE B I B L I C JE. for, and appointed one of their own chiefs to Year the dignity of Sultan, and profefled them- Hegira. felves his Mamlouks or military flaves. "With this, the dynafty of the Baharite Mamlouks commences. The firft fove- reign of that dynafty was Azzeddin Moaz Ibegh. - - - 648 From that period their hiftory is a con- tinued fcene of bloodihed. In a courfe of 257 years, 47 fultans filled the throne, and almoft all of them died a violent death. Toumain Bey, the laft and one of the moft valiant of the Mamlouk Sultans, was con- quered and put to death by Selim the 2d, the Emperor of Conftantinople ; and with him fmifned the Mamlouk kingdom of Egypt. 923 It then became a province of the Otto- man Empire. Selim preferved the Mam- louks, and divided them into feven military corps. For the government of the king- dom he appointed a Pacha and a Divan, or military council, compofed of the Pacha and the chiefs of the military corps ; and dif- tributed the kingdom into twenty-four pro- vinces, under the direction of as many Beys, who were always to be chofen from the Mam- louks, and one of them was fent to refide at Cairo, under the appellation of Shack eb beled. "Such," fays M. Volney, " is * the militia of flaves, converted into def- " pots. HORJE BlBtlC^E. 39 " pots, which, for more than 550 years, Ye " " have given law to Egypt." A circum- H-gira. ftance unparalleled, in what we know of other nations, attends them. Scarcely any of them has left iffue, that has fubfifted in the 3d generation. The confequence is, that, as they die away, they are replaced by Haves brought from Georgia, Circaffia, and Mingrelia. To this, in fome meafure, the continuance of the dependance of the Mam- louks on the Ottoman Emperors has been owing. But this dependance for fome time paft has been on the decline. In 1746, Ibrahim, one of the veteran colonels of the Janiffaries, rendered himfelf matter of Egypt. AH Bey did the fame in 1766, and had he pofleffed a greater mare of judgment and ability, Egypt might now have been an independent kingdom. IV. 4. Africa, where the caliphs and fheriffs of Morocco had their rife, was in- vaded by the Saracens in 647, and the con- queft of it was completed by them, in - 79 The extenfive defarts of each country had naturally occafioned an immemorial refemblance in their habits and modes of life, and the Moors eafily adopted the lan- guage of their conquerors. The confe- quence was, that from the time of the Ma- hometan conqueft, the vaft territory from D 4 the 4 o HOR^BBlBLIC-ffi. the eafternmoft boundary of Arabia to the weftern more of Africa, appeared to be H peopled by a nation of the fame origin, lan- guage, and manners. Africa was ruled by the caliph of Bagdad. Ali Ibrahim, the loth in fucceffion of tbefe governors, made himfelf independent of the caliph. - - He was the founder of the dynafty called the Aglabite, from his father. But it fhould be obferved, that the Aglabite dynafty reign- td over that part only of Afia, which extends from Egypt to Tunis. Edris ben Edris, who defcended both from Ali and from Fatima, the daughter of Mahomet, reigned over Ceuta, Fez, Tangiers, and almoft all the antient Mauritania. The dynafty of the Aglabites expired in 296 Mahomet Obeid Ollah then feized the throne. He expelled the Edriflite dynafty From th<? countries over which they reigned, and annexed them to his empire. He pre- tended to deduce his origin from Fatima, the daughter of Mahomet, and aflumed the title of Caliph and Iman. With him the Fatimite dynafty in Africa took its rife. Moez, the laft prince of that dynafty, having conquered Egypt, fixed the feat of his empire at Cairo, and transferred the fovereignty of Africa to Joufef-bea- jZeire-ben Menad, on the condition of receiving HCR^EBIBLIC-E. 41 Year of the receiving homage from him and his fuc- Hc g'- ceflbrs. . - - - - 362 This was the origin of the Zeirite dy- nafty. They were fucceeded by the Al- moravides, or Reclufe ; and theie, by the Almohades or Unitarians. - - 553 That dynafty expired in the perfon of Vaffek Aboul-Ala. Three dynafties arofe on its ruins, the Merinis, the Abi-haffs, and theBeni-Zians. The firft, (who were the moft powerful), ruled in Morocco, the fecond in the Africa propria of the Romans, the third in Treme- fan. While the princes of thefc dynafties were contending for dominion, Frederic Barbaroffa, one of the many illuftrious per- fons whofe achievements illuftrated the reign of Solymari the magnificent, pofleiTed himfelf of the whole territory extending from Fez to Egypt. Retaining the govern- ment of Algiers for himfelf, he put one of his brothers in pofleffion of Tunis, another in pofleffion of Tripoli : no part of Africa except Morocco, Fez, and Tremefan, then remained to the Merinis : from thofe they were expelled by the Sheriffian family, a prince of which now fills that throne. - 957 Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli are republics, pro- fefiing Year of Chrift. 972 "S3 1550 fefling to be under the protection, but difclaiming the fovereignty of the Pcrte. Barca lies between Tripoli and Egypt, and belongs to the Porte : the nations which fill the northern extremity of Africa, from the ftreights of Gibraltar to Egypt, arc called the ftates of Barbary. Ceuta,on the ftreighls of Gibraltar, Mellila and the fort of Velez in Fez, belong to the Spaniards : Magazan, in the fame kingdom, belongs to the Portugueze ; except in thofe places, Iflamifm is profefied through the whole .weftern coaft of Barbary, and very far in the country lying to its fouth. No part of the hif- tory of the Saracens is fo confufed, and at the fame time fo difgufting, by the continued fcenes it dif- plays of bloodfhed and every kind of horror, as that which relates to the hiftorv of their African pof- feflions. IV. 5. Spain, including Portugal, reaches from the yth degree weft, to the 3d degree of eaftern longitude ; and from the 36th to the 44th degree of northern latitude. It is bounded on the north, by the Bay of Bifcay and the Pyrenees ; on the fouth and fouth-eaft, by the Mediterranean ; on the weft, by the Atlantic. It is faid to have been peopled originally by Thubal, a grandfon of Noah. In confequence of a famine, a large proportion of its inhabitants left it about the year 1702, (A.C.) and eftabliihed themfelves in a country between the Euxine and Caf- pian HOR^BIBLIC^E. 43 pian feas, called from this event, Iberia. Some of them returned to Spain, having been joined by a numerous body from the different Celtic nations through which they paffed ; on that account they received, after their return, the name of Celti- beri. Being jealous of the Phoenicians, who had made fettlements in the north and north- weftern coafts, they applied to the Carthaginians for their affiftance in expelling them, and the Carthaginians made themfelves matters of the whole country : this was about the year 22 1 . A. C. The wars between Rome and Carthage began in Spain : the Romans fubdued the greateft part ol it : they divided it into two provinces, the Hif- pania citerior, and the Hifpania ulterior, and go- verned them by two Prsetors. Auguftus dividec the latter into two provinces ; fo that, at the be- ginning of the chriftian aera, it confifted of three provinces : the Tarraconenfis, which containec all the north of, Spain to the Douro; Lufitania containing Portugal, part of Leon, and all the ok and part of new Caftille ; and the Bcetica, which comprehended Andalufia, Granada, and the other part of New Caftille. Spain was one of the firft parts of the Roman Empire which were fubdued by the Barbarians. The univerfal tradition of the nations of X ear the north, and all their antient writers, Hegira place the Goths, the conquerors of Spain, at a period, as early as general hiftory reaches, 44 H O R M B I B L I C M. reaches, amone the nations of the Baltic, and ,- T ,. , . of the affigns the denomination or V mgotns or Hegi, weftern Goths, to thofe tribes of thera,\vhich inhabited that part of Scandinavia, which borders on Denmark ; and the denomination of Oftrogoths or eaftern Goths, to, thofe which inhabited the more eaftern parts on the Baltic. In all their emigrations and fettle- inents, they preferved their names, and the fame relative fituation. Towards the end of the firft century of the chriftian sera, a large eftablifhment of them is found on the Viftula, and numerous tribes of a people of the fame origin, but known by the appel- lation of Vandals, is found on the Oder. Then hiftory fhews thejr migrations to the Euxine, the fettlements of the Oftro- goths in the fouthern pans of Afia Minor, and the fettlements of die Vifigoths in Thrace. At the battle of Adrianople, the Goths obtained over the emperor Valens a victory, from which the empire of the weft never recovered. Attila was the firft of the barbarian in- vaders who took the city of Rome. About 9 months before that event, the Suevi, Van- dals, and Alani invaded Spain. It was foon afterwards conquered from them by the Viii- Goths : they kept pofieflion of it for three centuries : at the end of which, the Saracens or HORABIBLIC^. 45 or Moors, by the treachery of two exiled Year princes, and of Oppas, the Archbifhop ofHegira Seville, Completed the conqueft of it in eight months. - 94 About the fame time, the Oft rogoths made their fettlements in Pannonia and Sclavonia, and the countries on the higher Danube. Upon a revolution of the Caliphate at Damafcus, Abdalraman or Almanzor,aroyal youth of the family of the Ommiades, efta- bliflied an independent kingdom in Spain, and affumed the title of caliph. He fixed his throne at Cordova. - - -134 The caliphs .of this line are often called the caliphs of the weft, to diftinguilh them from the univeral caliphs, who, from having the feat of their empire at Bagdat, were called the caliphs of the eaft. The reigns of the Ommiades in Spain were, to ufe Mr. Swinburn's words, (Tra- vels through Spain, p 280), " thole flouriih- " ing ages of Arabian gallantry and mag- " nificence, which rendered the Moors of " Spain fup^ricr to all their cotemporaries " in arts and arms, and made Cordova one " of the moft fpkndid cities of the world. " Cordova was the centre of politenefs, " tafte, and genius ; tilts and tournaments, " with other coflly fliews, were long the 4t darling paftirnes of a wealthy happy peo- " pie, Year of Chcift. 7 I2 75 1 46 HORjEBlB " pie. And this was the only kingdom in , of the " the weit, where geometry, altronomy, and Hegir " phyfic, were regularly ftudied and prac- tjfe'd." It is obfervable that Cordova, under Ab- dalraham the 2d, was paved with ftone, which was 334 years before the time when, under Philip Auguftus, the metropolis of France firft had that pavement. - - 236 The dynafty of the Ommiades in Spain ended by the murder of Mutumed al Allah, the laft prince of that family, in - - 430 They were Succeeded by the Morabouths or Almoravides. This revolution wholly changed the face of the Arabic monarchy in Spain. The governors of the provinces, the minifters of the (late, and chief officers in the army, and the heads of leading families raifed themfel ves to be independent princes, fo that there were almoft as many kingdoms as towns. Cor- dova, Toledo, Seville, laen, Lifbon, Tor- tofa, Valentia, Murcia, Almeria, Denia, and the Balearick Iflands had their refpedtive fovereigns. The chriftian princes took advantage of thefe divifions,, and by degrees conquered Caftile, Arragon, Navarre, and Portugal from the Mahometans. The laft princi- pality which remained to the Mahometans was HORyE BIBLIC^E. 47 ^was Granada and iis territory. It was J e * r yielded up by Abdalmounin, the laft of the Hegira dynafty of Marabouths or Almoravides, to Aboufabid, a prince of the dynafty of the Almohades. Mahomet-al-hamar polfeired himfelf of it, in - .- - 634 It was conquered by Ferdinand and Ifa- bella. - - 898 Whilft it was governed by it's Mahome- tan fovereigns, " It feems," fays Mr. Swin- burne, " to have enjoyed greater affluence *' and profperity than it has done Since it " became a province of Spain. Before the " conqueft, it was one of the mo ft compadt, <c well peopled, opulent kingdoms in the " world. Its agriculture was brought to " great perfection ; its revenues and circula- " tion were immenfe ; the public works car- " ried on with great magnificence, and its " population not to be credited by any per- " fon that fees it in its prefent ftate. Of " their tafte and magnificence, the ruins of " the palace of Alhambra, built in themidft " of gardens of aromatic trees, with noble " views over beautiful hills and fertile " plains, are a fplendid monument. The tl Moors are faid to offer up prayers, every " Friday, for the recovery of this city." After the conqueft of it by Ferdinand and Jfabella, a confiderable number of the Moors remained Year of Chrift. 1236 1492 48 HOR^BIBLIC-ffi. remained in Spain. They were called Ye r Morifcoes. They formed, in Granada, a Hegira confpiracy againft the Spaniards, which was not quelled until the end of two years, and after, many confiderable battles. - - 976 Philip the Third, at the inftigation of the inquifition, a tribunal to be mention- ed with the bittereft expreflions of detef- tation, iffued an edit ordering all Morif- coes, without any exception, to quit the Spanifh territories. From the erFe& of this improvident meafure, Spain has never re- covered. - 1019 IV. 2. The hiftory of Perjia has been traced to the conqueft of it by the generals of the caliph Omar. From that time it was governed by princes of Turkifh extraction, till it was conquered by the Tartars under the command of afon of Ghenghiz Khan. 500 His descendants became divided amon^ o thetnfelves, the kingdom was difmembered, and TSmour made an eafy conqueft of it fromthm,in - - 787 He was fucceeded by Shahrok, his 4th fon. A race of Armenian princes then poflefled the throne. About the beginning of the i6th century, Shah Ifmael Sophy, who pretended to de- fcend from Muza Khan, one of the twelve fonsofHacon, the ion of Ali, the coufin 906 and Year o Chrift. I 5 6S i6ic 1202 1385 1500 H OR-ffi B IBLIC.^E. 49 Ye.iv of the and fon in law of Mihomet, (eized the throne. He eftablifhed the feel of All in Perfia, on the ruin of the fe6t of Omar, whom the Turks venerate. The hatred which fub- fifts on this account between the Periians and Trirks has been mentioned. It occafioned a long feries of war and bloodshed between the two nations. About the year 1730, the whole kingdom of Per- fia was conquered by Nadir Shah, an ob- fcure individual of a Tartarian Tribe, called Afgars. lie raifed it to the higheft degree offplendor. At his deceafe, it was divided into a number of governments, and in that ftate it has fi nee continued. IV. 6. 77/i? Mahometan Dynamics in the Empire of Hindufl an, arofe in the immenfe tradls of land which lie between the Afiatic dominions of the Czar, and Perfia, India, and China. Thefe have been immemori- . ally filled with numerous hordes, who, at different times, under the names of Scythi- ans, Getes, Finns, Moguls, and Tartars, have made irruptions into the neighbouring territories, and impelled the inhabitants of them on the adjacent countries. From one of thefe irruptions, a powerful dynafty arofe, which, from the feat of its Empire at Ghizni, E a city- 5 o a city on the wefternmoft part of the Cow- Year mul, one of the rivers which the Indus re- H e g,, e a . ceives from the weft, has bee* called the Ghiznevide. Sebe&agin, its founder, revolted from the , king of JBoucharia, one of the Mahometan princes, who raifed thcmfelves into power, on the ruins of the Caliphate. Mahinood, one of his fons, and the third in fucceflionto him, fubdued Hinduftan, and eftablifhed in it, the religion of Mahomet, deftroying, wherever his power extended, the temples and idols of the ancient religion. - - 39 1 Kofrou Shaw, the lalt prince of the Ghiznevide race, was expelled by Huflain Gauri, a native of Gaur, a province lying to the north of Ghizni ; from him the dynafty of the Gaurides takes its appellation. Ma- homet Gauri took Benares, the ancient feat 580 of Braminical learning. From this time, the Shanfcreet language began to decline, and univerfally became a dead language, " The death of Mahomet Gori," fays Colonel Dow, " may, in fome degree, be " faid to have put an end to the empire of " Ghizni. The unambitious character of ." the furviving princes of the family of " Ghor, gave an opportunity to two of " the inferior flaves, to divide among them " the empire which Mahomet had been at 7 HOR^E BIBLM2JE j "" fo much pains to acquire; Hdicur, or, as y^r " he is fometimes' called, Eldoze, kept po " feffion of Ghizhi and the northern pro- *' vinces ; and Cuttub, the favourite friend, " and faithful fervant of the late emperor, " was already Viceroy of the empire over " the conquefts in India, From Cuttub the " Mahometan Empire of the Patans or Af- 602 " gans in India commenced." The feat of their empire was Dehli. In the reign of Mahomet, the 2d prince of that name in the Patan or Afgan dynafty, Hinduftan was invaded and fubdued by Timour. - - 801 He did not alter the fucceffion : but Ma- homet was the laft prince of the family of the Gaurides; on his deceafe it devolved on Chizer, a Seid, that is, one of the race of the prophet. - - - - - -816 From his defendants, Belloli, an Af- ghan of the tribe of Lodi, wrefted the , crown of Delhi, and transferred the feat of empire to Agra. - - - 854 Babar, Sultan of the Mogul Tartars, a defcendant of Timour and Ghenghifkhan, put an end to the dynafty of Lodi, and ob- . tained the empire, in ----- 932 From this time, .the countries, which he and his fucceilbrs fubdued, including Hin- duftan and the Decan,' were called the Mo- gul empire. His grandfon Akber, was one 2 of Year of Chnit. 120'- 1398 1450 of tile moft wife and powerful monarchs Year that ever filled a throne. He divided the He i ra empire into 11 foubahs; each of the fou- bahs into certain circars or counties, and each circar into certain pungunnahs or hundreds. He died in - - 1014 He was fucceeded by Jehanguire his ion, and Jehanguire by Shaw Jehan. In the , year 1658, the civil wars between Jehan and his fons, and between the fons them- felves, firlt broke out : they terminated in the elevation of Aurengzebe, " He," fays, Mr. Adams, in his fummary of geography and hiftory, both ancient and modern, " raifed the Mogul empire to the higheft " pitch of fplendor. His authority extend- " ed from the loth to the 35th degree of " latitude, and nearly as much in longitude, " containing at lead fixty-four millions of " inhabitants; and his revenue exceeded 32 " millions of pounds iterling, in a country " where the produces of the earth are at " leaft four times as cheap as in England. ' He died in 1707 ; but the feeble princes " who fucceeded, being unable to wield fo " weighty a fceptre, the vaft empire was " in the courfe of 50 years reduced to * nothing." - 1119 The feelings of Aurengzebe, in the awful hour of difibrution, are thus defcribed by Major Year of Chrift. 1605 1707 BIBLIC^. 53 Major Rennell, (Introd. to his Memoir on ^'r the Map of Hindoftan, Ixiii. note.) " TwoHegira. " letters written by Aurengzebe to two of his fons, a few days before his death, fur- ** nifh this ftriking leflbn to frail mortality; (l that, however men may forget themfelves, " during the tide of profperity, a day of " recollection will come fooner or later. " Here we are prefented with the dying " confeflion of an aged monarch who made " his way to the throne by the murder of . " his brethren and the imprifonment of his " father, and who, after being in pofleflion *' of it, perfecuted the moft inofFenfive part " of his fubjefe, either through bigotry or " hypocrify ; here we behold him, in the " a& of refigning.that, to obtain pofleflion " of which, he incurred his guilt, and pre- " fented to us a mere finful man, trembling " on the verge of eternity, equally deplor- " ing the pad and dreading the future. *' How awful muft his fituation appear to " him, when he fays, " wherever I look, " I fee nothing but the divinity." Aurengzebe left four fons; on the ruin of them, Ferofkeere, a nephew of Jehaunder, the eldeft of them, obtained the throne. - 112 In his reign, the Englifli Eaft-India company received the famous Firman or grant, regarded as the company's commer- E 3 cial 54 HOR.E BIBLIC^T. cial charter in India, while they flood in Year need of protection from the princes of that Hegira country. Nadir Shall, after the conqueft of the Periian empire, invaded and con- quered Hinduftan, in the reign of Mahomet Shah, a grandfon of Shah Aulum. But 'Mahomet was left by him in potfeflion of the throne, and died in - 1154 With him the Mogul Empire may be faid to have expired. IV. 7. This leads to- the mention of the Ottoman emperors. At a prorriahtoryof Lycia, in Minor Afia, a ridge of mountains begins, which, without much interruption, extends to the Eaftern Ocean. Jn a general fenfe, the antients gave it the name of the Taurus; but, in a more contracted fenfe, they gave the name of the Taurus to that part of it, \vhich extends from Lycia to the part of Arm- enia, wh'ere the Euphrates rifes. There they fuppofed it was met by a chain of mountains, which, riling in a north-weftern point of the fpace between the Euxine and the Cafpian, fills the in- termediate country and fhuts up the Cafpian on the ifouth ; that they called the Caueafus ; a remoter branch of it, extending to the eafternmoft of the divers which flow into the Ganges, they called the Paropamifus, and its fuppofed extreme par-t the Emodus. The Imaus, or Caff, a point of (thefe mountains between Samarcand and Cafhgar, calculated, by Mr. Gibbon, to be at the equal dift- ance. BIBLIC^E. 55 ancc of two thoufand miles from the Cafpian, the Jcy, and the Bengal Seas, is the centre of them. From the Ikirts of it the Turks, one of } ea . r of the the moft warlike of the tribes, which in- Hegira. habited thefe mountains, iflucd towards the clofe of the fixth century, .and by a fucceffion 184 of victories, fubdued an extenfive .territory on every fide of their native mountains. But they foon loft all their eaftern conquefts, and were driven from their original fettle- ments near the Imaus : large bodies of them then fettled in the country beyond the Gihon or the Oxus, the Sogdiana, and Bactriana of the Antients, the Turkeftan of the Turks and Tartars, and the Great Boucharia of European geographers. Seljuk the leader of one of their tribes, embraced Mahometifm, and by his valor and the valor of his grand- fon Togrul Bey, became the head of a dynafty, which reigned from the Cafpian 545 Sea to Damafcus, from the Indus to the Gulph of Perfia. On the death of Malek Shah, the great nephew of Togrul Bey, (1052), the pofleflions of the Seljukian dynafty were divided, after a bloody conteft, into the three independent dynafties of Jco- .nium, Aleppo and Perfia. On the death of Aladin, the Sultan of Iconium, Othinan, the generaliflimo of his troops, ufurped his throne, and laid the foundation of the empire 4 of Year of Chrift. 800 1150 56 H O R JE, B I B L I C JE. of the Ottoman Turks ; to him Bajazet was third in fucceffion. Hegira. He obtained from the Caliph, who, as it has been mentioned, then lived in a humble fituation in Egypt, a patent to be Sultan of Roum, or the territories of Romania, Greece and Thrace. After many victories over the Mahometans in Afia Minor, and Over the Chriftians in their remaining terri- tories in Europe, he was defeated and taken prifonef by Timour, at the battle of Angora. 805 Soliman the ift, a ion of Bajazet, efcaped from the battle of Angora, and reftored the fplendor of the Ottoman throne. It arrived at its higheft glory, under Mahomet the 2d, by his conqueft of Conftantinople and the Morea, and his numerous victories from the Adriatic to the Euphrates. - - 857 Stiil the dignity of Caliph was wanting to the Ottoman princes, as it refided in the caliphs of Egypt, the defcendants of Mof- tanzer Billah. But Mahomet the i2th Ebu Dgeafer, made a formal renunciation of it in favour of Selim the ift, and, at the fame time, the {heriti of Mecca, prefented him, on a filver plate, the keys of the Keaba or iquare houfe at Mecca. - " 9 2 It is a fundamental maxim, in the religion and politics of the dilciples of Mahomet, that the Iman fhould be of the blood of the Corey fh, HOR.ffi BIBLICJE. 57 Corey fli, either in the race of Haftieim or the race of Ali. Both the caliph, and the Heg'wa. fheriff, at the time of this event, were Coreyfii ; the former, defcending from Haf- heim, the latter, from Ali. Their ceffion of their rights to Selim is confiderecl to have tranfmitted them to the Ottoman princes, and to have fully fupplied, in their favor, the want of heritable blood. The glory of the Ottoman houfe ihone with undiminifhed fplendor, till the death of Solyman the magnificent. Since that time, it has almoft always been on the decline, and now appears to touch the moment of its dJifibiution. - 922 V. WITH refpect to the irruptions of the Mogul Tartars, under Genghizkhan and Timour, into the Afiatic territories conquered by the difci- ples of Mahomet: To obtain an accurate knowledge of them, it may be found ufeful to go back very far. The real geography of the Greeks, did not extend, in the north-eailern parts of Afia, much beyond the Imaus or Caf : the geography of the Romans extended further ; but they little thought that the Chinefe monarchy contained a greater empire, than their own; and neither Greeks nor Romans 5 3 Jfftf. R'JEr I BX F G '^E. Romans fufpe&edy that the north of Atia. and Eu- rope, from Japan to the Tanais, -was filled with tribes, from whom thdir future conqueiiors would' iffue. Of thefc the Huns were the mdftfpowerful. Karly in the chriftiun sera, leveral of the moftwar- Jrke and powerful 'of their tribes emigrated to the- <weft ; fotne of them eftablifhed themfelves on (he paftern fide of the Cafpian, others on the eaftern fide of the Volga. ; The latter, about the begin- fiing of the 4th oentwy, paffed .the Tanais and lubdued the Alani. In.lktle more than half a' century, fivft oh theiN'eifler, and. afterwards en the Danube, they fubdued.tlae Goths; the three nations then united, and beingjoined by other barbarous tiihes of Hunnifh extra&ion, obtained, m 378, at the battle of Adrianople, a vidlory over the Ro- mans, from which, as has been already mentioned, the crnpire of the weft never recovered. Towards the middle of the following century, Attila, who claimed regal defcent from the heads of fome of tire nobleft tribes of the Huns, became fovereign both of Germany and Scythia, and was a formi- dable enemy to every fovereign from China to Gaul : his camp, when he was ftationary, was on the northern fide of the Danube, between the Teifs an-d the Carpathian mountains ; his empire extend- ed 7000 miles; but probably it did not contain as many towns as jnay be found within a circle drawn round Bruxelles, at an equal diftance from if of 50 miles. HCR-ffi BIBLIC^E. 59 By his deceafe, his empire was diflblved : in- fenfibly the Huns were melted down into the na-. tions which they conquered ; and, if the modern Hungarians be excepted, whofe defcentfrom them, is rather a plaufible conjedture, than an hiflorical fadt fupported by conclufive evidence, few vefliges of them are now difcoverable, eidier in Europe or Afia. Hitherto the inroads of the northern nations is a fubjedt remotely connected with the hiilory oi Mahomet and his followers. But the tide of emigration from the north con- tinuing to flow, the fpacious tradls of land which were left vacant by the firft emigrations, were occupied by tribes of the fame defcent, and thofe impelled the rirft invaders on the countries con- quered by the Saracens. Year of the In 1 176 Zingis the. Khan, or head of the Hegira. Mogul Tartars, fettled on the north of China. 572 His four fons made various conquefts in China, Tranfoxania, Syria, Afia Minor, Poland, Hungary and Siberia. Kara-Korum, called Holim, at the mouth of the Onguin in Kalkas Tartary, was the feat of the empire of Zingis andkis immediate fucceflbrs. On his deceafe, O&ai, his fon, was proclaimed his fucceffor. Houlagou Khan, the dethroner of the caliph Moftaffum, was the grandfon of '6o UORM BlBtl'C/R. of Oclai, and great-grandfon and fifth in fuc- Year _ . . of the ceflion to Zingis. Hegira. Soon after the death of Zingis, the greateft part of his fucceftbrs and their fubjets, adopted the Mahometan religion. Samar- cand in Boucharia, was- theirrefidence. On the death of Abnufaid, die I3th prince of that ;trynafty, feveral competitors claimed the throne, and threw the \Wiole. kingdom into iconfufion. Here the.Jiingifidianidan dy- nafty is confidered to expire; - - - 7 36 The houfe : of Tjmoilr role on its- ruins. Timour Beg, or, ae he h generally called, Tamerhm, was of a noble family in Samar- cand, related hy females tcj the houfe of Zingis. He was the founder of the moft extenfive empire that has yet been known, extending from the Irtiih and Volga to the Periian gulph, and from the Ganges to Da- niafcus and the Archipelago. In his palace So at Samarcand, he blended the Scythian fefli- cities of Attila and ZingU with the fplendor of the Ottoman court ; the former predomi- nated, but at the di fiance of 300 years they tlifappeared, in the moving camp of Au- irengzebe. Throughout the vafl territories wfe have men- tioned, Zingis and Timour were the fcourge oi every Chriftian a4 Mahometan (late which invited i or Year of Chrift. '335 HORM BIB LIC^E. 6 1 or refilled their ambition ; but, with, this .differ^ enc'e, tliat the private religion of Zingis was the pureft deifm ; and that, in every part of his do- minions, he eftablifhed the moft unlimited tolera- tion of religious opinion ; but Timour was a bi- gotted Mahometan, and fcarcely allowed the Chriftians, the choice, offered them by the Koran, of tribute or death. WITH refpecl to the attempts of the Princes of Chriftendom to repel the Maho- metans : VI. i. The principal of thefe from the Y( =ar nature of their object, have been called H?<*ira Crufadft, The firft was in - - 490 The crufaders took the city of Jerufalem, in - 493 Godfrey of Bouillon was elected king of Paleftine, but, from humility, refufed the name of royalty, and ailumed the modeft title of Defender and Baron ef the holy fepulchre. With the advice of the moft diftinguiihed of his followers, he compofed" for the government of the new ftate, a code of laws. When Jerufalem was retaken from the Chriftians, the code was loft ; all the written fragments which remained of it, and all that had been preferred of it by tra- dition, 62 HOR^: BIBLIC*. dition, were collected together in the mid- die of the 1 3th century, by John d'Ibelin, Hegira. count of Jaffa and Afcalon, lord of Baruth and Rames. A further revifion of it was made, in 1369, for the ufe of the kingdom of Cyprus, by 16 commiffioners in the ftates of the ifland ; and was publifhed under the title of Afiizes de Jerufalem. The 2d Crufade was promoted by the exhortations of Saint Bernard, and fupport- cd by the Emperor Conrad the 3d, and the French King, Lewis the 7th. - 542 The 3d was undertaken in 1189. It is remarkable for the feuds between our Richard the nrft, and Philip Auguftus of France. - - - 585 The 4th was undertaken in - 600 By a ftrange fatality, the Crufaders gave up their object for the conqueft of the Greek Empire, and, in 1204, they took Conftantinoplc. - 60 1 The 5th Crufade was conducted by fe- Teral German princes, under Andrew king of Hungary. - - - 615 St. Lewis was at the head of the 6th and yth Crufades, in 1248 and 1270; and illuf- 649 trated them by his piety, valor and misfor- tunes. The brilliant sera of the chriftian empire in the eaft, may be tixed towards the end of the rith century. BIBELC^E. 64 ifcYj centuryv Their empire then extended. from .the Euphrates to Tyre: Hemms, Damafcus and Alep- po, were alrnoft' the only places of importance ! within that extenfive territory which remained to ! the Mahometans. All the Chriftian princes pro- i fefled to hold their territories of the king of Jeru- ' ; falem. The principal of them were the kings of i Cyprus, the princes of Antioch, the counts of Tri- ; poli, the lords of Ibelin, Barout, Jaffa, Tiberias, ! Cefarea, Tyre, Napoulous, and Bafan, the count? of Edefia, the lords of Keraclea, Margat, Ade- Ion, Maugaftears, Caiphas or Hapha, Memars and Morf. By degrees, the Chrifuans loft the whole of their conquefts; Jerufalem was taken from diem in 1187. St. John of Acre then became the Metropolis of the Latin Chriftians of the Eaft, and was taken from them in 1291 (A. H. 690.) Till the taking of the ifland of Rhodes by the Turks, the biiliop of that ifland was primate of all the Egasan iflands. On that event, the primacy was transferred to the archbifliop of Naxos. Several chriftian families of diftinclion inhabit that ifland: they are all the remains of the ancient families of France, Spain, and Italy, who efla- bliihed themfelves in Greece and Syria, in con- fequence of the vicStcriesof the Crufaders in die eaft. VI. 2. To the crufades, feveral religious and military orders owe their rife. Some time before the-firft crufade, an hofpital was eftabliflied at Jerjufalem, for the relief of, the poor pilgrims who reforfed 64 H OR IE B I B L I C J&. refer ted there. In Uoo, Gerard, the dire6lor of it, and his companions, profefled themfelves mem- bers of the order of St. Benedict, and formed a congregation, under the name of St. John the Baptift. It was approved by pope Pafchal the 2d. In 1113, Raymond du Puy, the fuccefibr of Gerard, divided the order into three claiTes; to the nobles, he affigned the profeflion of arms, for the defence of the faith and the protection of pilgrims ; the ecclefiaflics were to exercife their religious functions for the benefit of the order; the lay-bro- thers were to take care of the pilgrims and the fick. Thefe regulations were approved by pope Calix- tus the sd. ; and the order then took the name of Knights of the Hofpital of St. John of Jerufa- lem. After the ktfs of the Holy Land, they re- tired to Cyprus; thence to Rhodes: in 1522, that ifland was taken from them, by Solyman the Great: Malta wris then given them by the em- peror Charles the fifth ; from that time they have ; generally been known by the appellation of Knights of Malta. The order of Knights Templars \vns eftablifhed nearly about the fame time, and for the fame pi ir- pofes, as that of the Knights of Malta. They* took their name from a monaftery given them by Baldwin the fecond king of Jerufalem, which im- mediately adjoined the temple in his pal; They were fuppreiTed by the council of Vienne, ' in 1312. Few events in hiitory arc more fingu- lar tlian that of their difiplution, the encymicies of \vhicb HOR.ffiBIBHC.ffi. 6$ which they were accufed, exceed belief, and it feems difficult to impute them generally to the order; on the other hand, they appear to have had the very faireft trial. The Teutonlck order was founded on the model of that of the Knights Templars. It was con- firmed by pope Celeftine in 1191. The knights conquered Pruflia in 1230, and fixed the head feat of the order at Marienburgh. In 1525, the grand-mafter embraced the proteftant religion: fmce which time the head feat of the order has been at Margentheim, in Franconia. The original object of the order of St. Lazarus, was to take care of perfons infe6ted with leprofy; in the courfe of time, it became a military order; the whole body returned with St. Lewis, into Europe in 1254. Afterwards it was united, in France, with the order of our Lady of Mount Carmel, and in Savoy, with the order of St. Mau- rice. All thefe orders difplayed heroic ads of valour in the enterprizes of the crufaders to recover the holy land. VI. 3. The firft vifJory of importance which, after the crufades, the chriftian princes gained over the Ottomans, was at the fea fight of Le- panto. In about a cenrury afterwards, the Turk* invaded Hungary, with an army of 2OO,OOO men, and laid fiege to Vienna ; John Sobeifki, the king of Poland, at the head of 50,000 men, attacked their camp and obtained a complete viory over them in 1689. F Since 66 HORy BIBLIC/E. Since that time, however chriftendom may la- ment the extent of the territory of the Mahometan princes, ihe has had no caufe of terror from the fuccefs of their arms. VII. W I T H refpecl: to the religious tenets arid literary hiftory of the Mahometans : VII. i. In the fame manner as the word ** chriftendpm" is ufed as a general denomination for all the countries inhabited by. the nations who profefs the religion of Chrift, the word EJlam is a general denomination for the countries inhabited by the nations that profefs the religion of Ma- homet* It fignifies an abfolute fubmiffion of mind and body to God, and to the revelation he Las made of his divine will by Mahomet, his pro- phet. Thus, the fundamental creed of Mahomet is defcribed in two articles, " there is but one G od, " and Mahomet is the apoftle of God." His precepts are reduced to four ; prayer, preceded by purification as a neceffary preparation, fafting, alms, and a pilgrimage, once at leaft in a life, to . the temple of Mecca. His difciples are taught to expect a day of refurre&ion and general judg- ment : they believe the doom of infidels will be cverlafting punifliment, to be meafured by the de- gree of their moral guilt and obflinacy in rejecting the -evidence offered .them of Eflaiuifm ; but that "all HOR^BIBLIC^;. 67 all believers, by their faith in God, and through the interceffion of Mahomet, will be admitted to ever- lafting felicity ; that, while the felicity of the per- fect, as the faints and martyrs, will be the enjoy- ment of a fuperlative degree of intellectual pleaiure, the general body of MuIIelmans will be blefled with an abundance of fenfual enjoyments. They believe in God's abfolute decrees, and the predeter- mination both of good and evil ; in the exigence of angels, whom they confider to be minifters of the word of God, pure and fubtile . fpirits, propa-. gated of fire. They believe, that, from the begin- ning, there has been a feries of prophets; that, all of them were free from great fins and even great errors ; and that fix of them, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Mofes, Jetus, and Mahomet, rifing in a gradation of merit, the latter always above the former, brought new difpenfations of law from heaven ; that each, fucceflively, abrogated the pre- ceding ; that, many of the prophets received, from God himfelf, revelations in writing of his divine will, all of which are loft except the Pentateuch, the Pfalms, the Gofpel and the Koran; that the three firft are miferably corrupted and falfified ; that the laft is divinely infpired, every word, every letter of it being uncreated and incorruptible, and fuh- fifting, through eternity, in the eflence of the deity ; that, God himfelf, by his angel Gabriel, delivered it to Mahomet his laft prophet, his high prieft in fpiritual concerns, his fupreme prince in F 2 temporals, 6 HO KM. VIE LIC M. temporals, and who, by himfelf or his fneceflbrs, is, by the fupernatu* al r and eonfequentiy irrefiftible fonee of his arms, to eftablifh in every kingdom of fh* world, the favrng dc&rrne of the koran. Cir- tawftGifion is not mentioned in the koran ; but it 1* ptaxfttfed as a. divine inftitutiou, firft revealed fcy Abraham ta Mahomet. Two places they J*6id in particular veneration : one of them is th# temple of Mecca ; it contains the Cabah or fquare hetffe,. which ha been mentioned. To the temple f Mecea^ etery Mahometan diteKf>s his look whew h fitays, and this fuppofed afpedi of it, they call She Ktbla. The other objedi of their Veneri- lion, is the temple at Medina, xvhere the prophet pfeaGhed aftd was buried, Sxich are the principal tenets aftd fites of the Mahometans, but the only fl66effafy article of faith* the only article required 16 be pfofeffed by a Muffiilrnan, is the unity of God, Snd fhe divine miffion of Mahomet. Har* itfg pronounced the words, " I believe in 6ft G0d, 4nd in Mahotnet the apoftlc of God,'* tha profelyfe is confidered to be a peffed MufluhrJfcn* They look on unbelievers -with contempt and ab* horrdnce j but the Magians fcs followers tif Abra- haitTj the Jews as followers of Moief, and the Chriflians as followers of Chrift, are ranked Iiy them, far above polytheifls, idolaters, and atheifts. In oppofition to thofe, they call the Magians, Jews, and Chriftans, from the written revelation^ (hey fuppofe to h*ve been made to them, by 3 Abraham, Abraham, Mofes, and Chrifl:, the people of the written iaw. The arly caliphs condemned the pojyiheiifts, idolaters and atheifts to die alternative of death, or Ifhe profeflion .of Eflamifm, but the people of <he written law were always allowed the alternative of profefling Eflatniun, or purchafing liberty of confciencic by paying tribute; and infenftbly &$ laft alternative was generally propofed to every enemy. Tbe followers of Mahomet have afcrabdl to him bojth miracles and prophecies. His miracles have been faid to amount to 3000, hut he idoes not appear to have Jiim&lf claimed a power of work'ing miracles. The wonderful ,uccefs of his arms, fee urged as a proof of his divine mifliou, and contended, that none but God himfdf, could ^o- duce a work, which fhould equal the koran, 'm grandeur of conceptioji, in beauty or iuWimity of do6trine,or in rkhneCs or elegance of language. VII. 2. The revelation of the koran^ by Maho- raet's account, was made to him in parcels, and at different times. From his dictation, they were taken down in writing by his fcribe. Aba Becre, his 'immediate fucoefibr, had a tranfcript of them carefully made, and deposited it with Hafsa, one ef the prophet's widows, ft was frequently co- pied. IB the 3oth year of the Hegira, the caliph, OdMnan<>biervMig that there was a great multitude of various rea4iag in the copies, caxrfed feveral F 3 copies 70 HOR^E BIBLIC-ffi. copies to be made, with extreme care^ of the ex- emplar depofited by Abu Becre with Hafsa. -'In imitation of the maforitical labours of the Jews, the Mahometans have computed every word and every letter of the koran, and introduced vowel points, which afcertain both its pronunciation and meaning. " The general doctrine of the koran," fays Golius, in Append, ad Gram. Erp. p. 176, (as he is tranflated by Mr. Sale), " feems to be to unite the profeffors of the three different veli- " gions, then followed in the populous country of *' Arabia, who, for the moil part, lived' prOmif- <c cuoufly, and wandered without guides, the far " greater part being idolaters, and the reft Jews and *' Chriftians, moftly of erroneous and heterodox " belief, in the knowledge and woribip of one, " eternal, indivifible God, by whofe power all " things were made, and thofe which are not, " may be ; the fole fupreme judge and abfolute lord " of the creation, eftablifhed under the fan&ion of " certain laws, and the Outward fign of certain " ceremonies partly of ancient and partly of novel " inftitution, and enforced by fetting before them <{ rewards and puniihments both eternal andtem- " poral, and to bring them all to the obedience of ' Mahomet, as the prophet and ambaflidor of " God, who, after repeated admonitions, prophe- " cies and threats of former ages, was, at laft, to *' eftablifh and propagate God's religion on earth " by force of arms, and to be acknowledged chief " pontiff ^ BIBLIC/E, 7 t * pontiff in fpjritual matters, as well as fupreme " prince in temporals." The divine revelations were, according to Mahomet, to end with himfelf; and in him the feal of prophecy was to be clofed for ever. Frequent mention is made in the koran Qfthehjftories contained in the Old Teftament, of thofe particularly, which Hie w the judgments. of God on unbelievers and impngners of his holy word; but Mahomet appears to have taken his fcriptural hiftory rather from the apocryphal books and traditions of the Jews and heterodox chriftians, with whom Arabia abounded in his time, than from the canonical writings which compofe the bible. - The koran contains alfo many legal and civil ordinances, as the prohibition of certain meats r wine, and ufury ; fome, that refpect the payment of debts, the laws of heirlhip, wills, legacies, oaths, widows, divorces, marriages, murder, fornication, adultery, theft : but the greateft part of it tnrns on the obligation of making war againft unbelievers, with the moft fplendid promiies to thofe, who fight againft them, and the moft dreadful threats againft thofe who refufe. The duty of alms- giving and general benevolence is inculcated in the ftrongeft terms. It feems generally admitted that the ilile is moft pure and elegant, and that it con- tains many paffages of great fublimity ; but, as Mr. Gibbon juftly obferves, " the harmony and co- " pioufnefs of ftile, will not, in a verfion, reach '' the European infidel ; he will perufe, with im- F 4 ' patience, BI3I.IC.ffi. ** patience, the endlefs incoherent rhapfody of < fable, precept and declamation,, which feldom " excites a fetwwnent or idea, which fomedmes *' crawls in the duft, and is fometimes loft in th ** clouds. The divine attributes exalt the fancy '* of an Arabian miffionary ; but his loftieft drains * rimft yield to the fublime (implicity of the book *' of Job, compofed in a remote age, in the fame " country, and in the fame language." The karan conMs of 114 fections, called in the origi- fiul, furas. They are diftinguiOied by titles, but are not numbered, and are divided into frnaUer portions. Seven principal exemplars have been made of the koran ; two at Medina, a third at Mecca, a fourth at Cufa, a fifth at Bafforah, and a fixth in Syria ; the feventh is the exemplar from which th common editions are taken. The Ma- hometans themfelves have tranflated it into the Perfic, Malayan, Javan and Turkish knguages. Reinecitis, (Hiftoria Alcorani Leipfiae, 1721), fays, that the moft beautiful raanufci'ipts of the koran, ate (lA) one preferved m the Mufeum Kirche- ri'anum at Rome, ifuppcrfed to have been ufd by Soiymati the great ; (ad) one, m -me library of ChTiftrna tyf Sweden -, ($$) one in the library at Vienna ; and (4th), Mte with a commentary by Abi Saidi Rades, -which, 5t the defeat of tbe Turks, in 16^3, George the then Etefitor of Saxony, found among the fpoih of the battle. Bnt tltere 'are ffiany others (fome of which "are m England), of exquifite HOR/E BIBtlCjE. 75 e*quifite beauty. The firft edition of the entire work in the Arabic was publtfhed %y Paganinus of Brefcia, at Venice, in 1530; but the whole edition, by the pope's order, was committed to rhd flames. It was afterwards printed by Hinckel- men, at Hamburgh, in 1684. Father Lewis Maracci, a clerk regular, by the order of Innocent the nth, published the original, with a translation and full refutation, in 1698. Other editions have been promifed ; but none of them, to the writer's knowledge, has yet been publifhed. The rft verfion by a x:hr5{lian, was that, which Peter Ab- bott of Chnni, procured to be made in 1143 ; it was publiflied by Bibliander in 1550 ; Maracci's translation of it is highly praifed. A correft edition of ir, with notes and an fnrrodu&ion, wat publilhed by Reinnecius, in 1721 : of thetranfla- tions into modern languages none is to be com- pared to Mr. Sales. His learned and judicious preface is tmiverfaWy admired. VII. 3. The retigious feff^ into whic'h the Mahometans are divided, are "very numerotrs. Four of them are efteemed orthodox, and each of thofe has its paTticular ftation, in the temple of Mecca. They are called ~&ortmtps or TraditronJJh^ becaufe they admit the authority of the Sonrra^ or collection of traditions, ura.de by the difciples of Mahonret, Tefpefting his fayings, his actions, and even his {Hence on certain occaiions, from which they fuppofe important inferences may 'be dnrwn: They 7 4 HORJi ElBLICM, They alfo admit the authority of the Idjma-y- umeth, or the gloffes and legal decifions of the apoflles, and firfl difc/ples of the prophet ; parti- cularly the four firfl caliphs; and the Keyafs, or collection of canonical decifions, made by the Imams-mudjhtihhids, or interpreters of the firfl ages of Eflamifm. All the other fedts are con- fidered as heretics. The general body of Mahometans call them Shiites; but, under that appellation, they particu- larly underftand the fe&aries of Ali, the 4th of the caliphs. ' He was the coufm of Mahomet and married Fatima, his youngeft and favorite daugh- 1 ter. On the death of Mahomet, his relationship to the prophet and his perfonal merit gave him powerful claims to the vacant throne: but, through the authority of Omar, it was conferred qrj Abubecre : he bequeathed it to Omar; and, on his death, it was filled by Othman. He was the third of the caliphs, and, on his deceafe, Ali was ad- vanced to the .office. We have feen that, after a reign of five years, Ali was affaffinated ; that his fon, at the end of fix months, was compelled to refign ; that the throne was ufurped by Moaviah, the firfl of the Ommycades, and that he made it hereditary in his family. But numerous bodies of Mahometans retained a partiality for Ali, and his ^efcendants. The three firfl caliphs, they confider s ufurpers : they place Ali on a line, or nearly on aline with Mahomet; and, to the original creed of HORM BIBLIC^. 75, of the Mahometans, that, " there is only one God; " and that Mahomet is the apoftle of God." they add the article, that, " Ali is the vicar of Maho- " met." This is the fubject of political difcord between the Shiites and Sonnites, or the fedtaries of Ali, and the fedlaries of Omar: the principal points of -difference in their religious creed, are, that the fe&aries of Ali reject the Sonna, and all other traditions, and profefs an excluiive attach- ment to the koran ; and that they believe, that the Immameth or facerdotal fupremacy devolved, at Mahomet's deceafe, on Ali, and pad from him, to his lineal defcendants up to and including Maho- met the i2th and laft Imam: That the I2th Imam ftill lives, and at the fecond coming of Chrift, is to give him a joint teftimony with the prophet Elias. As the Shiites, in their political tenets, adhere to Ali, the Sonnites in their politics^ adhere to Omar. This is the grand fchifm in the hiftory of Mahometanifm. In every age, in every country fubjecl to the difciples of Mahomet, it has been the fubjeft of fedition and civil war. In Egypt, in Spain and in Africa, the defcendants of Ali have often reigned: they now reign inPerfia, in moft parts of the Mahometan territories beyond the Gihon, and in feveral of the Mahometan principalities in India. Religious controverfy has never been carried on with more fury, or religiou* war with more cruelty, than in the controverfiei and wars between the- fe<5taries of Ali and Oman Each 76 H ? R ^* B I B L 1 C JR. Each fecV anathematizes the other, and beKeres tHere is more -merit in puting one perfon of tfie oppofite fe6t to death, than in <ieftroying -70 Chriftiarw. VI. 4. The Twkifh, foe Perfic, the Arme- nian and the Arabic are the chief langitagts tefcd by the Mahometans,. The original Turkish is faid to be a very poor awl very inharmonious knguage, and to foe nfe^l only by the ioweft dafe of fubjefts. The Perfic language is much cwki rated by the T-urk who pretend to taflie or elegance. The Arabic is aim oft a neceflary femgiiage to a Ma- hometan, a-s it is the language of the koran, and a?! the early writings of the followers of Maho- met. The modern Turkifti ts the language of the <ort, and of all perfons of education. AM fhe emperors edi6ts, and all the edicts of his mini, ftera arc written in that kingtiage. The Cheva- fier D'OMIbn, tn his -fplendid work, Tableau Ge~ nfraf tfe IS Empire Othoman, fays k is a noble and haranoniotjs language. VI. 5- The dynafty of fhe AbaffitJes introduced tcarmng among the difciples of Mahomet; and, while the $ of Europe was deftitote of polrte Ikeratune, and die great-eft part of it funk in ig- fe?anoe ad fcarbarifm, tbe art -and fcicnces fcri(hed from Smnarcand atid Bochara to Fe ad Cordova. The -rojal fibraij of the Fatnrrite* at Cairo -contained above 100,000 mantifcriptsi 600^000 are faid -to 1iaye extfted m the Eflamitic libraries 77 libfrawes In Spain : " Cordova," to ufe Mr. Gib- bon's words, " with the adjacent towns of Ma- ". Laga, Alrneria, and Murcia, gave birth to more " than, 300 writers, and above 70 public libraries ** were open in th cities of the Andalufian king- '* dom. The age of Arabian learning continued * about 500 years, till the great irruption- of the " Moguls, and was coeval with the darkeft and " moft ilothful period of European annals; but* " finee the furi of fcience has arifen in the w&ft r " it ihovild feera that the oriental ftudies have " languiuied and declined." Still, however, tlie protection and encouragement of literature, id on declared d>je6l of the Ottoman governmenr. In all gfeat towns each mofque has one, and fotns- tinae* two colleges belonging to it : they are called Medrefles, From thefe the principal officers of church and ftate are taken. Aloft of the rnofque^ in the great cities of the empire have public libra- ries ; Conftantinople alone, according to thd Che- valier D'OhiTon, contains 35: and each of them holds from 1000 to 2560 volumes, bound in red* greert or black morocco, inclofed in- a morocco cafe; each library isfurnifhed with a catalogue. The feraglio has two libraries. There is reafon to fdppofe, that, they contain many latin, greek and oriental manufcripts, Europe, at different times, has been nattered with the hope of discover- ing in them the original gofpel of St. Matthew in Hebrew, 78 HOR^ BIB LIC A. Hebrew, all the decades of Livy, and all the books of Diodorus Siculus. This, however, is mere conje6hire. About the year 1726, printing was introduced into -Conftantinople. The Muphti and the principal Oulemas folemnly pronounced it to be a lawful and ufeful inftitution, and a royal edi6t was publiflied authorising Said Eflendi and Bafmadjy Ibrahim, the former, a clerk in the cuf- toms, the latter, an Hungarian renegado, to print any works, except the koran, the hadis, (or oral laws of the prophet), the commentaries on them, and works of jurifprudence. The patentees printed jointly ten different works. Afterwards Bafmadjy Ibrahim printed ten, on his own account, and two great charts, one of the Black, the other of the Cafpian fea. He was a man of talents, and an en- thufiaft in his endeavours to introduce the arts and fciences of Europe among the Turks. He was patronized by the Porte, and was prefented with a military fief, and a penfion of 99 afpars, or half farthings of our money, a day. His death fuf- pended the labors of the Turkim prefs : it was re- vived by an edidl of the Porte in 1784, and was refumed by the publication of an hiftory of the Ottoman empire: that was completed in three volumes, and finimes with the death of Abdul Hamedin 1788. HORJE BIBLIC^E. 79 VIII. WITH refpeft to the extent of the -coun- tries where Mahometifm is profefled : On the north, it has been carried to the point, where the Ouralian ami Altai mountains meet : thence it may be traced, over little Bucharia,-to the fouthernmoft point of Hinduftan : and thence in a fouth-eafterly direction, to Goram, (a fmail iflafid between Ceram and Papua or New Guinea), in which there are not fewer than eight mofques. It is alfo ipread over every country from the Hel- lefpont to the Indus, and from the Arabian to the Perfian Gulph ; it is profefled on each fide of the Nile ; and in the weft of Africa, "the line between the Mahometans and Pagans, according to Mr. Park, extends up the river Senegal, to St. - Jofep'h or Galam, lat. 14. 20; and thence in a waving line, it proceeds to and includes Tombu6loo. . la- the eaft of Africa, it is profefled in part of Mada- gafcar, and the oppofite fhores. The Mahometans have loft Spain; and, on the north, their progrefs has been checked by the propagation of Chriftianity in Siberia; but, -in the middle and lower Ana., it . has always been gaining ground; fo that, fpeaking generally, from the commencement of the Hegira to the prefent time, Mahometanifm has always been on the- en-' creafe. Such go HO KM BIBLIC-dS. Such is the general view of the actual extent of Mahometanifm, it naturally leads to a view of its moft important part, the Ottoman Empire. That is divided into the portion of it, which lies in Afia; that, which lies in Africa, and that, which lies ii> Europe. Turkey in Afia lies between the 2yth and 46th degrees of eaft longitude, and the 28th and 45th of north latitude. It is bounded by the Black fea and Circaffia on the north, by the Red fea, Arabia, aud the Perfian Gulph on the fouth, and by the Archipelago, the Hellefpont and the Propontis on the weft. Turkey in Africa is confined to Egypt; that part of the Ottoman em- pire lies between the 2Oth and 32d degrees of north latitude, and the 2 8th and 36th degrees of eaft longtitude. It is bounded on the north, tby he Mediterranean fea, on the fouth, by Abyffinia, on the eaft, by the Red fea, and on the weft, by the defart of Barca, and by fome unknown parts of Africa. The European part of the Ottoman empire lies between the loth and 41 ft degree of eaft longitude, and between the 36th and ^oth degree of north latitude. It fills the fpace between Ruffia, Poland, and Sclavonia on the north, and the Mediterranean on the fouth ; the Auftrian and Venetian territories, and the Gulph of Venice front it on the weft, the Black fea, the fea of Marmora and the Archipelago, on the eaiU It contains many iflands ; the principal of them are Negropont HOR^E BIBLIC^. 81 J Negropont or the ancient Eubcea, Rhodes, Can- dia, Cyprus, Santorin, Samos, the Cycladesy and a clufter of iilands in the Ionian fea* among}. \vhich is the Kola del Compare, the antient Ithaca.; The prefent condition of this noble and ample- territory, once dignified by fcience and valour, and once the faireft portion of the Chriftiaa . world, is thus defcribed by Sir George Sandys, hi his dedication to his travels : " Large territories <c difpeopled, or thinly inhabited; goodly cities " made defolate, fumptuous buildings become "ruins; glorious temples either fubverted or " proftituted to impiety ; true religion difcoun- . " tenanced or opprefled; all nobility extinguish- - " ed; no light of learning permitted nor virtue " cherifhed; violence and rapine exulting over " all, and leaving no fecurity, fa've to an abje6t . " mind and unlocked oh poverty." Hoxv very " different have been the effe&s of Chrfftianity, on the countries into which it has been introduced ' The rapid progrefs of Mahometanifm naturally brings to mind the rapid progrefs of Cliriftianity, ' and invites to a comparifon of the two religions - but a fingle fa 61 throws Mahometanifm out of the- J fcale. Each founder of thefe religions claimed a'- divine miflion : to prove the divinity of his miffiorfy : Chrift appealed- to the prophets who foretold hiw and to the miracles he wrought: If he produced-" the prophets and worked the miracles, 'he Mjfe&lMt?! be an impoftoV. . Mahom ct neither pretended to; I . ./^ G have 81 nORM SIB LIC ^E. Jiare been foretold by prophets nor (o work mira- cks ; he refted the proof of his divine mifiion, folely on the fuccefs of his arms, and the fublimity of the doctrine and language of the koran ; but his arms might he rnoft fuccefsrol, ami the doctrine and language of the koran might he mod fublime, and Mahomet might ftill be an importer. Thus Chrift offered the very taireft proof of his divine miffton ; Mahoniet offered none of his >~the con- clofion is obvious. IX. IT remains to make fame mention of the authors from wltofe writings the preceding JJtetts have been compiled. Not a page of them was written till all that M. de Guignes, M. d'Herbelot, and Mr. Gibbon have faid on the fubjefl of it, had been repeatedly cooiidered. The Hijioire Generate fies Huns, &c. by the firft of thefe writers, will be an eternal monument of the depth and extent of his refearches ; but it is lawful to exprefs a wifh, that, for the- information of his common readers, he had accompanied it with a particular account of the authors he had confulted, and his own opinion^ of their character and value : for want of this information, notwithstanding all the refpe& due to M. de Guignes, it is impoflible not to read parts of his work, without fome degree of fcep- ticiim. His valuable effays on various iubjedts of oriental HOR^BIBLICJE. 63 oriental literature in the Memoirs de P Academic d(s Infcrtptwns, are entitled to a high degree of praife. Of d } Herbert's Dictionary there is but one opinion. The merits and defedts of Afr. Gibbon's hi/lory are in no part of his work more difcernible, than in his account of the Saracens. Few of his readers come prepared, with much previous knowledge of the fubjeft, to the perufal of that part of his work, which, to ufe his own. exprefiion, gives an account of the fleeting dy- nafties of the caliphs. There, of courfe, his flyle of allufion, if it may be fo called, was fm- gularly improper ; and, in no other part of his work, his prejudices againft Chriftianity, are more frequently, or more boldly expreffed ; but his confummate knowledge of geography, his general and curious learning, his vigour and ex- quiiite felicity of expremon, occur in every page. In a note, (vol. v. p. 242, n. 55), he obferves, after Voltaire, the refemblance of the nrft Mof- lems and the heroes of the Tliad : between the rapid march of Iflamifm, and the rapid march of French Democracy, the refemblance is not lefs ftriking. In each may be found the fame zeal tp propagate the tenets of their feel, the fame thirft of plunder, the fame ardour of deftruclion, the fame enthufiafm, and the fame patient and adven- turous courage : in each, iraftead of waiting, like the Romans, to fubdue one enemy, before another was provoked, an attack was made, almoft in one G 2 inftant, 8 4 HOR^BIBLIC-ffi. inftant, on the greateft part of the civilized world ; in neither, the diflenfions of the chiefs retarded, for a moment, the progrefs of their foldiers. When we read Abubeker's circular letter, " In the " name of God. To all true believers ; this is to " acquaint you, that I intend to fend the true t{ believers into Syria, to take it from the hands of " the infidels," it is impoflible not to think of the Great Nation, fending forth her Sans-Culottes to plant the tree of liberty. On every fubjeft of geography, the author confulted cFAnville : the fupreme merit of that excellent writer is not too flrongly exprefled by Mr. Gibbon, when he calls him the Incomparable d'Anville ; yet it may be confidently aflerted, that, on fubjecls of antient geography, Cellarius may ftill be ufefully con- fulted ; and that England may juftly be proud of the geographical eminence of Major Rennell; his map of Hinduflan and the memoir which ac- companies it, are invaluable ; his Geography of Herodotus is ftill more curious, and only lefs ufeful, becaufe it illuftrates the antient, not the. modern world. The author has alfo to confefs great geographical obligations to the Hiftorical ' Difqui/ition concerning the Knowledge which the jfnticnts had of India, with which Doflor Robert/on, with fo much honour, clofed his literary career, and to DoSlor Former's Northern Traveh. In antient chronology he generally followed 4rch- bijliop UJIur ; in modern, the Benedidtine authors of BIBLICjE. 85 of the ^ft de verifier les dates, the work of the greateft learning which appeared in the laft cen- tury. In his account of antient Perfia, he availed himfelf of what has been written on the fubjecT:, by Sir William Oufeley and Sir William Jones: and on that, and many other occafions, he confulted the Antient Univerfal Hiftory^ a work of great merit, and perhaps not fufficiently valued : when the troubles in Flanders firft broke out, a tranflation of it into the French language was in contemplation, and gave rife to the Dif- coursfur I'Hiftoire Univerfelle^vQ. 1780, of Abbe Mann ; which, if a new edition of it fhould be thought of, will be found to deferve attention. In his account of Africa, the author found Cheniers Recherchcs Hiftoriqucs fur les Maures very ufeful : in his Ihort account of the irruptions of the Bar- barians into the Roman empire, he found much valuable information comprefled into a narrow fpace, in the Tableau des Revolutions de F Europe dans le moyen age, by M. Kock, Strajburgh, 1 790, 2 vol. 8vo. On the heterodox opinions on the fubjedlofthe Trinity and Incarnation he confulted the Dogmata Theologica of Pctavius^ a work which has extorted the praife of Mr. Gibbon. The author's account of the early ftate of Arabia, and the early part of Mahomet's life, was taken from Niebuhr^ from the Memoire fur Feta- bli(Jement de la religion et de f empire de Mahomet, of M. Brequigny, in the 32d volume of the G 3 Memoires 86 Memoires des Inscriptions, and from a Differta- tion of M* de Btiify, de Pldolcitrie d 'Abraham, avani fa vocation, publifhed with his other Dif- fertations in two o&avo volumes, Paris 1785. On ttafe fubjecis he alfo confulted Aft: Sale, in praife of whom too much cannot be faid ; Velnty and Savory have little more than copied or tranf- lared huti ; and he availed himfelf of Profeffbr While's elegant and eloquent fermons. What is faid on the conquefts made by Mahomet and his companions, is taken from Mr. Ocklcy's Hi/lory of the Saracens; that a perion, of fo much learning, fhould rwve been permitted to languish within the Walls of a prifon, was a difgrace to England, and a general misfortune to the republic of letters. The author's account of the univerfal caliphs, was extracted from Afarigny's Hi/hire des Arab\, SL \vork which anfwered the author's purpofe, but which would not fuffice for a writer, who fliould wilh to enter more fully into the fubjet. The mention of the caliph Welid's order, that the Arabic mould be fubftituted in the place of every other language through the whole territory of die caliphate, led the author to give fome atten- tion to a fubjeft, which opens a new and ample field of difcuffion,- the influence of conqueft on laftguage. Six events in hiftory will be found to deferve the particular confideration of any perfon who ihall engage in it ; the Macedonian, Roman, and Saracen conquefts ; the emigration of the Sclavonian 87 Sclav<3>niasi tribes ; die general ufe of the French language in confequence of the victories of Lewis the i^tfa, and the literary merit of the writers of his reign ; and the probability of the English becom- ing the popular idiom of the whole Weftern he- mifphere. What is faid on the Mahometan dvnafties in Perfia and Egypt is taken from D'Herbelot and Volney ; Mr. Gibbon obferves, we are amufed by Savary, and Jnfh ufited by Vomey ; bat over Volney, Sarary has die advantage of underftand- ing the Arabic original. The Hiftvire deTAfriyte ft d-e fEfpa^nsfcus la domination des Arabis, and the Rcchcrches hiftoriqucs fur les Afaurcs furnifhed the -author with what he has faid on the Maho- metan dynafties in Africa and Spain. The ac- count of the Mahometan oanqueftsin Hinduftan is taken from Colonel Dviv's Hiftory of Hincbtftau, Mr. Qrme's IntroduR'wt to hi* Hijiory of Hin4uftan, and JMajar RfwtWf infroduft'wtt to his Memoir : where the author fowd thele writers differ, he preferred the 1 aft, His .account of the Ottoman empire is chiefly rta'ken from the Abrege Chrwokgique tU J' 'fiiftffa-e Oitonutne, par M. de la Croix. Mr. ^e -Guignes and Mr. Gibbon left him little to .defore on the fubjetls of Gingbiskhan and Timour. On the Crufades, he did not look beyond L'Efprit afs "Gtmfadc^ and Feriot. A good hifto'ry of theai is miich wanted: that part of Mr. Gibbon's hif- tory wJiidU treats of .t]iem, is the worft executed G 4 portion 88 HOR^BIBLIC^E. portion of jiis work. The account of the literary liiftory of the Ottoman empire, is taken from the Abbe Toderinis View of TurkiJJi Literature^ and the Tableau Generals de I* Empire Ottoman of the Chevalier lyQhjJon, a fplendicl and ufeful work. X. T H'E preceding pages may be found to con- tain fome account of the religion of Mahomet, and of the coaquefts made by him and his dif- ciples : the following may be found to give fome notion of the books accounted facred, in the infidel countries conquered by them, and fome particulars refpecling the Edda, the book fuppofed to have been accounted facred by the ancient Scan- dinavians. X. i. - Following -the progrefs of the Mahometan arms in the E aft, we crofs the Perfian Gulph, and reach the country of the ZEND-AVESTA, the fuppofed Bible of the antient Perfians. The religion of the antient Perfians has been difcufTed by many modern writers f profound learning. One of the earlieft works on the fub- jecl, is Lord's Hi/lory of the Per fees, ^to. Lon- don, 1630. Mr. Thomas Stanley's valuable trea- tifcs on the Chaldaic, Perjian^ and Sabian dofirincs, form a part of his Hiftory of Philofophy, and have been printed feparately. The writings of Dr. Pocockc, particularly his Specimen Hiftorice Ara- bum, IBLIC^. 89 bum, and his edition of Abul-Ferajus, abound with much information on the fubjecl. But the moft learned work upon it, which has yet made its appearance, is Dr. Hyde's Hifloria Veterwn Per- farum, publiihed at Oxford, firft in one volume 4to. in 1700, afterwards, with additions, in two volumes 4txx 1767. A concife, but clear view of the fubject, is inferted by Dr. Prideaux, in the 4th book of the firft part of his Connexion of the Hijlory of the Old and Nezo Teftament : it gave rife to a learned correfpondence between him and Mr. Moyle his nephew, published in the fe- cond volume of the works of the latter. AJJe- manh Bibliotheca Orientals, and Brucker's Ffif- toria Philofophie?) throw much light on this, and every other branch of Eaftern literature. In the 25th vol. of the Hiftoire de F Academic Royale des Infcriptions* et Belles Lettres, may be found the firft of the Memoires, which compofe the Abbe Foucher^s Traite Hijlorique de la Religion des Perfcs ; the others appeared in the fubfequent volumes of that work. The year 1755-6 muft be reclamed a new jera in the ftudy of Perfian The- ology. M. Anquetil du Perron, happening to fee a fragment of one of the facred books of the antient Perfians, determined to enrich his country with a tranflation of it. With this defign he em- barked, in that year, for the Eaft Indies : he re- turned to Europe in 1761. The refult of his refearch.es appeared in 177 1, under the title, " Zend- go UOTiJE BIBLIC^ffi. *' T.tnd-Avcfla Guvrare de Zcroaftre, contctiant " Ics Idecs Theologirpus, Phyjitjues ft Morale " de cc Legijlateur; hs Ceremonies du Cuilt Religifux qu'il a ctab'i, tt pluftcurs traites im- << pet-tans rtlatif a foAcienttc Hi/I sire det Per/a : " Tr adult en Francois Jxr faiiginal Ztnd; avec " des Rtir.arqucs ft accompagnji de pkfifwt Traiiis propres a cclaircir Ics Matures, pjti en "font VebJft" ^ vol. qto^ generally bowod in diree. 1 he firft contains an account of his voyage and travels.; il is very interefting. Hi* wort was warmly attacked by Sir William Jwts in his Lettre a M. A * * dii P * * *, dam laqueik /i ccrtipris /' Examcn de fa Traduftim dfs iiw<s mttribtttt. a Zaraajlre, and by Mr, Rithardfm, in his preface to lirs Arabic axd Per/lent Die- tetnary ; both of them treat it as a <;onte<nptibte forgery: bet, in refpet to 5ir William JoneB* fecit indignatib Terfura ; M. Anquetii Au Per* jon's very rude and petulant attack oirthr EngiiJk nation, .and particularly on the late Dr. Hunt <jf Oxford, -Sir Wiiiiam Jones's pieceptor in <iie Eaftern languages, produced from him the retort, ftdlof afperky, bat \viKsllydeftitute of argument. It may be nollcfted frocn his difcoovfes before tlie Afialic Society,, that he thought dkiereftdy of M. Anquaii du Pen-on's works in his riper years : and it certainly detracts from the weigbc-of Mr. Ricinaindfewi's teftimony againft them, that he to o knowlalge of the antient Periian ; 3 and HOR^BIBLIC-E. 9 i fcnd that his knowledge of the modern Perfian is queftioned by able fcholars. Mr. de Sacy fcems to acknowledge the importance and authenticity of the Zend-Avefla, by his frequent appeals to it and quotations of it, and it is honourably noticed by Tyfchen of Roftock, Mu'nter of Copenhagen, and Sir William Oufeley. Two intereftmg me- moires relating to his work were published by M. Anquetil du Perron in the Journal de Scavans, 1762 1769; an<l feveral in the Memoires de L' Academic. , The fubje<St is difcufied, but not fo fully as a curious reader muft wiih, by Sir William Jones, in his anniverfary difccurfcs. Mr. Kleukcr has publifhed a German tranilation of M. Anquetil du Perron's Zend-Avefta, in fix volumes 4to, at Riga, 1776, 1777, I ?Si ? ^83,: a work highly interefting to the curious in the antient theology of the Perfians. It contains a German tranilation of the original publication of M. Anquetil du Perron, and the eflays, written by him and the Abbe Foucher: but themoft important part of the work, confifts of the author's own hif- torical difquifitions on the writings afcribed to Zoroafber: in them he appreciates the claim to authenticity and antiquity, and the theological and literary merit of the Zend-Avefta. He feems to (how, as far as the nature of the fubjel admits, that the Guebres in Perfia and the Parfees in India, the fuppofed iucceffors of the antient Perfians, actually gz UO~RM EIELICM. actually poflefs a collection of books, efteemed facred by them, -as containing the doclrines of the antient religion, and the fundamental tenets of their anceftors, and derived by them from Zoro- after, and that thefe are the works tranflated by M. Anquetil du Perron, It is much to be wiihed thatfome gentleman would favour the public with a tranilation of M. Kleuker's Difquifitions. From the works we have mentioned, the following com- pilation has been made; it may be found to give fome notion, I, of the Patriarchal Faith; II. of Sabaifm, or Planetary Wormip; III. of Zoro- after; IV. of the antient Language of Perfia; V. 'of the original Code of Law promulgated by Zoroarter; VI. of the Zend-Avefta, publiftied by M. Anquetil du Perron; VII. of its Authenticity; VIII. of its Theology, Morality and Ceremonial ; and IX. of the Revolutions of the antient Perfian Creed. To diitinguifh them from the modern Perfians, both the antient and modern profeflbrs of the doctrines of Zoroafter are called Parfees by feveral writers of eminence, and in thefe fheets are called by that name. I. The religion of the antient Perfians may be coniidered the firft deviation from the true Patri- archal Faith. That coniifted in the knowledge, -love, and adoration of one fupreme God ; in the belief that he made the world by his power, and fupported it by his providence ; that he had created a man 9J a man and a woman, and placed them in a {late of blifs, to endure for ever, if they (hould obferve the command he gave them, to abftain from eating the fruit of a forbidden tree ; that they eat of itj and were punimed for their difobedience; that, by their guilt, they and their pofterity incurred a total lofs of the divine favour ; but were to be reftcred to it by a divine Redeemer, who, in the fulnefs o time, would appear in their feed. Thefe fublime tenets compofed the whole creed of Noah, and were probably carried by Elam his grandfon be- yond the Tigris, into Perfia. There, by degrees, the faith of his defcendants was adulterated. From the contemplation of the Creator, they naturally turned to a view of the wonders of his hands, par- ticularly the fun, the moon, and the ftarry hoft of die heavens. Brought up from our earlieft infancy in juft notions of the Deity, we tind it difficult to conceive, how the human mind can reft on thefe objects, however fplendid, without riling to the fublime Being, who called them into exigence. To the defcendants of Noah, the view of them was a ftrong temptation to error, and fuperftition. Job felt its force : in the folemn proteftation, made by him of his integrity in the obfervance of his duties, he calls God to witnefs. " That as he " beheld the fun when it fhined, or the moon " walking in brightnefs, his heart had never been " fecretly enticed, his moudi had never kifled his hand." 94 HOR^BIBLIC^E. " hand." Among the Perfians planetary wor- fhip very foon prevailed: but, if we credit Dr. Hyde, it fhould not be confounded with idolatry : in his opinion, light was confidered by the Per- fians as the fublimeft fymbol of the Deity, the fun and planets as his nobleft production, fire as his moft powerful agent; in this view they paid them a religious reverence, but their reverence for them did not go fo far as adoration. From their ufe of fire in their religious ceremonies, they acquired the name of fire-worfhippers. 2. In this ft ate they did not reft long : by de- grees an opinion gained ground among them, that the heavenly bodies were inhabited by beings, en- dowed with intelligence and power, and entitled to religious worihip. Thefe religious tenets are known by the appellation of Sabaifm or planetary worfhip. No herefy can boaft fuch high antiquity or fo long a duration. It certainly prevailed be- fore Abraham ; and, in the territory of Baflbra, it is ftill to be found in a body of men, not very- numerous, who call themfelves the Chriftians of St. John. The reafon and occafion of their afTuming this appellation are unknown. Some mention of their tenets may be found in that part of the fore- going account of Mahomet and his difciples, which mentions the ftate of religion in Arabia, at the time of his appearance. From Sabaifm, how- ever, a part of the Perfians kept themfelves free : they BIBLICJE 95 they were called Magians ; they were not wholly free from fuperftitious practices, and probably both parties admitted Dualifna, or the doctrine of two principles. 3. This leads to the mention of Zeroafter, the reformer of the Perfian religion. The time in which he lived is uncertain : and fome writers have fuppofed, that more than one perfon of that name, took an aftive and diilinguiihed part in the revolutions of the Periian creed. On thefe points there is a great diveriity of opinion among the learned : their opinions may be reconciled, in fome meafure, by fuppofmg, that two celebrated perfonages appeared in Perfia : one, the Icgiflator of Perfia, both in its fpiritual and temporal con- cerns, about the time of Cyaxares the ift. ; the other, the reformer of its religion, and the founder of the Magian hierarchy under Darius the fon of Hyftafpes ; that the name of the fecond was Zoroafter ; and that the name of the firft is un- known ; but that there is a probability of his being the Heomo of the Zendiili books, the Horn of the Pahlavis. 4. To the former, the Zend-Avefta, as it was originally compofed, may be attributed with a high degree of probability. To obtain an ac- curate idea of it, fome notion muft be acquired of the Languages accounted facred, by the prefent adherents to the antient Perfian creed, and of 96 HOR1E BIBLIC^E. of the writings known or fuppofed to exift in any of them. The moft antient of thefe languages, is the Zend. It was probably a very early corruption of the Sanfcrit. It is fuppofed, that by an injunction of Zoroafter, the ufe of it was exclufively appro- priated to the Magian hierarchy : the Pazend is a corruption of the Zend, and was ufed in the com- mentaries on the Zend. The Pahlavi was the language in general ufe among the Perfians, in the time of Zoroafter, and continued in general ufe, till the 5th or 6th century of the chriftan aera j all the remains of it are tranflations from the Zend, fuppofed to have been .made during the life of Zoroafter, or foon after his deceafe. All the known writings in the Zend or Pahlavi languages are accounted facred by the Parfees. Ferdufi, the Perfian Homer, in his Shah-namah, always fup- pofes the kings and heroes of his country, to fpeak and write the Pahlavi language. In Kerman, and the neighbourhood of the Cafpian fea, the Parfees have a language peculiar to them, called the Guebri-, it is a compound of the Zend, the Pahlavi, the modern Perfian, and the languages of other neighbouring nations.* 6. It a The charafters of the Zend, Pazend and Pahlavi lan- guages, may be found in the work of M. Anquetil du Perron, in the ad edition, of Dr. Hyde's Religio Veteram Peifarum, HOR^B BIB LIC ^2. 97 5. It is faid that the Code of 'Law promulgated by Zoroafter was divided into 2 1 parts ; that feven of them treated of the creation of the world, feven of morality, and of civil and religious duties, and feven of phyfic and aftronomy : it is faid, that it was written in letters of gold, on 12,000 fkins of parchment, and depolited by Guftitafp in the great Pyra^um, Perfarum, and in the Commentatio defatis linguarum Orien- iallum, by Jenifch ; but, by infpecYmg the medals preferved in the national mufeum at Paris, and deciphered by Mr. de Sacy, (Memoire fur diverfes Antiquites de la Perfe, Paris 1793), or thofe depofited in the mufeum of the late Do&or Hunter, and deciphered by Sir Wm. Oufeley, (Obfervations on fame Medals and Gems bearing infer ipt ions inthePablavi or antient Perjick Character, quarto, London, 1801,) it appears, that the characters given by Hyde and du Perron differ from thofe of the Saflanian ages of the Perfian monarchy. The alphabet of thefe medals, and of the moft antient infcriptions hitherto explained, have been found to contain but 1 8 letters, each of which, whether it be ufed in an initial, medial, or final pofition, retains the fame form ; while the Zend alphabet, as given by Mr. Anquetil du Perron, from his marmfcripts, has been found to comprife not fewer than 48 characters, the Pazend 29, and the Pahlavi 26 : many even of thefe affume different forms, according to their fituations, at the beginning, mid- dle or end of a word j others, according to their pofitions, receive a fhort or long, a hard or foft accentuation. Tbefc new diftinclions feem to be innovations of the original fimplc alphabet, and are fuppofed to be engrafted on it within the laft five or fix centuries. The moft antient Perfic infcrip- tion, hitherto deciphered, does not afcend higher than the H fcond Fyraeum, or fire-temple atPerfepolis : and that it was found there and deftroyed by the command of a MufTelman chief, about the feventh century of the Chriftian sera. Zoroafter appears to have afferted, that it was delivered to him by the Deity : on that account, his followers called it the Avefta, or The Word; and, being written in the Zen- diih language, it was generally called Zend- Avefta. Later Perfian and Arabic writers relate the prodigies which ufliered into the world, the birth of Zoroafler, the attempts of the evil fpirits to deftroy him, and the miracles by which he proved his divine million. To the exertions of M. Anquetil du Perron, we are indebted for our firft knowledge of the Zend- Avefta : his manufcripts are depofited in the na- fccond century cf our a?ra ; that is the date of a medal which Sir Wm. Oufelcy afcribes to Vologefes, the jd of the Arfacidan or Parthian dynafty : and no intermediate cha- racter between the Pahlavi, and the arrow-headed letters, found in the ilu'ns of Perfepolis, or the neighbourhood of them, has yet been difcovered. Thus it remains a queftion whether the works of Zoro- after, were originally written in the Alphabet of the medals, or in that of the Perfepolitan infcriptions ; but the manu- fcripts, from which M. Anquetil du Perron translated his Zend- Averts, are written in a character totally different from that of the Perfepolitan infcriptions ; and they are thought to be founded upon, and in many inftances to be the fame -with, that of the Saflanian medals, a pure Pahlayi. For thefe remarks, and a valuable communication on the general fubjeft cf this article, the writer is indebted to Sir William Oufelcy. tional El ELI CM. 99 tional library at Paris; a fimilar, or perhaps a finer collection of thefe works, was lately brought from Surat, and has been purchafed by Sir Wil- liam Oufeley. 6. The firft work in the collection of M. An- quetil du Perron is the Vendidad Sade. It con- tains, what is called the Vendidad, in a ftridt fenfe, and the Izeflme and Fifpered. The word Vendidad, means feparated from the devil; and thus intimates, that the doctrine inculcated by the Vendidad is contrary to the doctrine of the devil. Sad6 fignifies pure and without mixture ; and ac- cording to M. Anquetil du Perron, is a name given to thofe Zend works, which are not accom- panied by a Pahlavi tranflation. The Vendidad Sade, contains a dialogue between Zoroafter and Ormuzd : fome parts of it contain a relation of the hiftorical facts on which the religion of the Par- fees is founded; the reft relates to their morals, policy, and ceremonial. The Izemne and Vif- pered are Liturgical Works ; the firft feems to fig- nify a prayer in honour of him, to whom it is ad- drefled ; the fecond, to denote the chiefs or firft of every being, the beginning of the Vifpered con- taining addrefles to them. The Izefhne and Vif- pered were recited at the fame time, and perhaps the Vendidad was recited with them, fo as to form, together, an office, refembling the liturgies of the church of Rome and the church of England, which confift of lectures and prayers from the H a facred ioo HOR^E B IBLIC^. facred writings, and prayers introduced by the churches themfelves. The Izefhne and Vifpered are followed by the yefchtSy which confift of a variety of addreffes, prayers, and fupplications to Ormuzd, and the other celeftial beings, and commemorations of them. The Jefcht of Or- muzd is remarkable for the very high terms, in which, in a dialogue between himfelf and Zoro- after, Ormuzd defcribes his own power and glories. After the Jefchts, is the fmall and the great Si- rouze, or a collection of fhort prayers, addrefled to the 30 heavenly fpirits, who prefide over the 30 days of the month. With the Si-rouze, the Zend- Avefta finifhes. M, Anquetil du Perron has fub- joined to it the Boun-dehejli, containing an ac- count of the Cofmogony of the Parfees : he con- fiders it to be a tranflation from the Zend, and to have been compofed towards the feventh century of the Chriftian aera. For our knowledge of tliefe documents, we are indebted to M. Anquetil du Perron. We alfo owe to him much valuable information refpedling ieveral works, which throw much light on the theology of the Parfees. The firft of thefe is the Eulma-EJlam, containing the anfwers made by a Parfee prieii, to different queftions put to him by fome Muffulman doctors, about the 4oth year of the Hegira : the ModjmeleltaVQrikh or the fummary of hiftories, published in the year 1126: and the Treatife of the Religions of the Eaft ty.Shahriftani : with IIOR^E BIBLIC^S. ioi with the laft of thefe works Dr. Pocock, and Dr. Hyde were acquainted. The document of mod importance, on the religion of the Parfees, of which we were in poiTeflion, before M. Anquetii du Perron's publication of the Zend-Avefta, was the Sadder ) a book ufed by the Magi, containing an account of the laws and precepts of the Parfees; it is divided into an hundred chapters, is written in the modern Perfian, in verfe, and is thought to have been compofed by a Perlian prieft about the i6th century. 7. This leads to the important inquiry re- fpe&ing the Authenticity of the works, from which M. Anquetii du Perron tranflated the compilation, publijhed by him under the title of The Zend-Avejla. It is clear that he did not wilfully impofe on the world, either a tranilation or a fuppofed tranflation of a fpurious original ; that the books tranflated by him really exift in a Zendifh original ; and that he endeavoured, to the utmoft of his power, and probably with fuccefs, to give a faithful tranf- lation of them. It is alfo clear, that, if they are genuine, they form a fmall part only, of the ori- ginal Zend-Avefta. Thus far, there is a reafon- able degree of certainty : it is probable, that the original, from which M. Anquetil's compilation was framed, is of the higheft antiquity ; that pans of M. Anquetil's compilations, particularly thofe which contain a dialogue between Zoroafter and Ormuzd, or in which Zoroafter repeats the in- formation or precepts he received from Or- H 3 muzd, 102 HQ-RM BJBLIC^E. muzd, are portions of the original Zend- Avefta ; it is alfo probable, that other parts of it, particu- larly thofe, which are in the form of prayers or in- vocations, are of a later date than the Zoroafter affigned to the sera of Darius Hyftafpes; and it alfo is probable that the Zend-Avefta, in its pfe- fent form, is as antient as the Mahometan invafion of Perfia; and it may, for fome reafons, be affigned to the time of Artaxerxes the founder of the SafTanian dynafty. 8. To obtain an accurate notion of the religion of the Parfees, it is neceffary to confider their Mythology, Morality and Ceremonial. Under the name of Zerouane, or Time without bounds, they recognized a firft and original Being. That by him and in him, they believed the ufii- verie to exift, appears fufficiently clear: but they feem to have confidered him rather as a Principle, giving motion to a machine, or an impulfe of fate, than a real object poffefied ofwifdoin, inde- pendence and energy. From him, Qrmuzd and Ahriman proceeded; each independent of the other, each poifeffed of the power of creation. Ormuzd is the being abforbed in excellence, good in his eiTeuce, the caufe of all good ; Ahriman dwells in darknefs, is evil, and is the caufe of all evil: Ormuzd formed mankind for virtue andhappinefs; the malice of Ahriman plunges him in vice and mifery; whatever is good in the moral or phyfical world, is the production of Ormuzd ; all that is bad, is the production of Ahriman. The op- pofition . 103 politic*! of Jbeir nature produces a neceiTary con- flict between them: twelve thoufand years were to pafs from the firit creation of Ormuzd and Ahriman; during the firft 3000 of them, Ahri- rnan was to remain inar.ive; the conflict was then to begin, and during the next 3000 years, Qrmuzd was to have the advantage ; in the fol- lowing 3000 years, Ormuzd and Ahriman were to be alternately victorious; in the laft 3COO > Ahriman was to prevail, till, at the end of them, Onnuzd was to gain the afcendant, and to obtain a complete victory over Ahriman and his powers. To protect the beings, he intended to create, from the attacks of Ahriman, Onnuzd created fix AmfliafyandS) or Celeftial Beings, through whole miniftry he ihould communicate his favours to man ; he alfo created a number of celetlial beings of an inferior degree called Izeds, of whom Mithra, the being of light, whofe habi- tation is between the fuil and the moon, is the moft illuftrious. Next to thefe, he created the Ferouers^ or that part of every created being which partakes of the divinity, anfwering to the wvj which the Greek philosophers called the fuperior or divine part of the foul, in oppofition to the iJ/t/x;T!, or its inferior or terrene part. Ormuzd alfo created the fun, moon, liars, and the four elements. In die mean time Ahriman was not inactive: he created a large number of evil and filthy beings called Dews or Dwes t P erics, Dareujes .and Darvands. H 4 With 104 uS BIBL With them Ahriman attacked Ormuzd, and maintained againft him, a fight of 90 days, at the end of which, Ormuzd pronounced the Honover, or Divine Word, and at the found of it they fled back ta their primaeval darknefs : then Ormuad created thefirji Ox ; it was deftroyed by Ahriman ; from him Kaiomorts^ or the fxrft man, proceeded ; the Dews flew him, a tree fprung out of his feed, from which a man and woman arofe, called Mef- chia and Mefchiane. At firft, they were pure be- ings, and obedient to Ormuzd : but Ahriman was envious of their happinefs : to feduce them, he affiimed the form of a ferpent, prefented them fruit, engaged them in converfation with him, and perfuaded them he was the creator of the univerfe ; they believed in him ; their nature was corrupted, and their corruption infe6ts all their pofterity. Ormuzd fupplies them with force fuflacient to refift the attacks of Ahriman ; at their deceafe, if the good overbalances the evil they have done, they are admitted to a paradife of fpiritual and tem- poral delights ; if their evil actions preponderate, they are condemned to unfpeakable fuffering : but all this is temporal ; at the end of the 12,000 years from the creation of Ormuzd and Ahriman, the harmony of the univerfe will be re-eftablifhed, and mankind reftored to virtue and happinefs. The Morality of the Zend-Avefta is entitled to praife ; purity of word, action, and thought, is repeatedly inculcated. To multiply the human fpecie, H 0~RM B I B-LICJE. 105 fpecies, " increafe its happinefs, and prevent evil, are the general duties inculcated by Zoroafter to his difciples. Agriculture is particularly re- commended them : " He," fays Zoroafter, " who ** fows the 'ground with diligence, acquires a " greater ftock of religious merit, than he could " gain by repeating ten thoufand prayers." On the other hand, too great an attention to gain is reprobated in the ftrongeft terms ; " There is not," fays Zoroafter, " a greater crime than to buy " grain and delay felling it, till it becomes dear, " that it may be fold for a greater price." The difciple of Zoroafter is enjoined to pardon injuries, to honour his parents, to refpect old age, to ob- ferve a general gentlenefs of manners, to practice univerfal benevolence. Fafting and celibacy are forbidden him ; if his wife be not barren, one wife only is allowed him ; a marriage with his coufin-german is recommended to him, as an at particularly pleafing to Heaven. The Religious Ceremonial of the Parfees muft.take up a confiderable portion of their time ; and, on many occurrences both of bufmefs and pleafure, muft inconveniently prefs upon them. The Pri- mitive Word addreffed by Grmuzd to Zoroafter partook of the divine effence ; to read and ftudy it inceflantly, is confidered by them a return due for fo great a favour. 1 he prayers of the Zend- Avefta often begin with an humble confeffion of fin or imperfection : they are addreffed to Ormuzd, the to6 HOR^S BIRLIC^E. the Amfhafpaijds, the Izeds, the Ferouers, *m<i the Elements. Fire was confidered by Zoroafter as the pureft fymbol of the Divinity ; he therefore enjoined his difciples, to keep up a perpetual fire, and to perform their devotional exercifes in tlie prefence of fire, and every fuppoied corruption of fire is forbidden under the fevereft penalties. To every aft of devotion, purity of heart is necef- fary ; and to purity of heart, Zoroafter fuppofes purity of body greatly contributes ; with this view, he prefcribed a multitude of minute ob- iervanccs ; for fome of them, a reafou may be found iu the nature of the climate; but many of them feem arbitrary and trifling ; the omiffion of them is declared to be a grievous fin, not inferior in guilt to the violation of the iv.oft important duties of morality, and only to be expiated by the heavieft punifhment. Every thing, which related to religion or its concerns is placed under their priefts ; they were formed into a regular Hierarchy, not unlike the hierarchy of the Chriftian church ; large tradls of land were afiigned for their fup- port, and they were entitled to a tithe of all the property of their difciples. The moft exceptionable part of the religious fyftem of the Parfees is its religious intolerance. From its eftablifhment under Darius HyfUfpes, to its fall under Ifdegertes, the laft of the Saffanian dynafly, the exercife of every mode of religious worfhip, except that of Zoroafter, was prohibited 3 throughout TIORJE BIBLIC^E. 107 throughout Perfia, under the fevered penalties ; and the Magi, appear to have been difpofed ra- ther to increafe than leffen the feverity of the law. 9. What has been faid may be thought to pre~ fentfome view of the Hijiory of the Perfian Crecd t during its two firft periods, that which preceded^, and that which began with Zoroafter : from him, till Ardefhir or Artaxerxes, the firft prince of the Saffanian dynafty, feven centuries elapfed, which may be affigned for its third period ; its 4th ex- tends from that time to the overthrow of the Perfian empire by the Companions of Mahomet ; its fifth and laft period reaches to the prefent time. The doctrines of ZoroaPcer foon attracted the attention of the Greeks. By an intercourfe with the Greeks, fuch of the Magi as had a turn for thefe fpeculations, would naturally be led to accommodate the doctrines of Zoroafter to the polytheifm of the Greek theology. The talk would not be difficult: they would eafily find in Ormuzd and Ahriman the fubordinate Deities of the Greeks; and in the Zerouaneor Time without bounds, a Jupiter, the eternal parent and fovereign of all. Their intercourfe with the Jews would alfo have fome effeft on their religious belief ; the fublime defcriptions of Jehovah, with which the facred writings of the Jews abound, would natu- rally rectify and exalt the conceptions of the Magian ro H O R JE B I B L I C M. Magian prieft, and infenfibly lead him to "afcribe to his own Zerouane, or Time without bounds, the infinite power and infinite wifdom of the God of Abraham, and to confider Ormuzd and the other celeftial beings as his miniftering angels. But whatever efFecl: thefe fubliine or ingenious fpeculations might have on a few philofophers, the Perfian nation at large adhered to the reli- gion of the Magi : its natural tendency however was Planetary Worlhip ; that infenfibly gained ground on the nation ; it corrupted the antient do&rines, it gave rife to a multitude of fets ; all of them profeffed to revere the name of Zoroafter, and each claimed to be the only true obferves of his dodtrines. To put an end to thefe difp.utes, Artaxerxes fummoned a general meeting of the Magi ; they are faid to have met to the number of 80,000 : by fucceflive operations they were reduced to 40,000, to 4000, to 400, and ulti- mately to 7 : one of them drank three cups of" foporiferous wine prefented him by his brethren, fell into a long fleep, awoke, related his con- ference with the Deity, and announced to the king and magi, the Deity's avowal of the divine miffion of Zoroafter, and the authenticity of the Zend-Avefta. From that time, till its conqueft by the Ma- hometans, the whole kingdom of Perfia was faithful to the dodtrine of Zoroafter. It is a principle of the Mahometan religion to tolerate every HOR^B BIBLIC^. 109 every religion which recognizes the unity of God. In the eye of the Mahometans, the Perfians ap- peared to worfhip the fun and to wor/hip fire : ore this ground they deftroyed the fire-temples an<l altars of the Parfees, and infulted the Magi ; but- they carried tlieir perfecution no further : by degrees, they allowed the Parfees the free enjoy- ment of their places of worfliip, on paying tribute. For feveral centuries the Pyraeums.fub- fifted in Media and Ba6triana ; and they ftill fub- fift in Kirman, Surat, Bombay, and the neigh- bourhood of Ifpahan. X. 2. Advancing eaftward from Perfia, we imme- diately touch on HINDUSTAN, where, to ufe Mr. Lord's picturefque and accurate language, " a people prefent themfelves to our eyes, clothed u in linen garments, fomewhat low defcending, of " a gefture and garb, we may fay, maidenly and " well nigh effeminate, of a countenance iliy and " fomewhat eftranged, yet fmiling out a glozed " and fomewhat baihful familiarity." The following lines may be found to give fame notion, ift, of the Geography; 2dly, of the Antient Hiftory of Hinduftan ; 3dly, of the Antient Philofophy of the Indians , 4thly, of the Vedas, the books accounted facred by the Hindus, and of feveral Books held by them in great venera- tion ; jio HOR^ BI B LI tion; and $thly, fome mention of the fuppofed ages of thefe writings. I ft. Confide) ing Hinduftan, in the very largeft fenfe, in which that word is ufed, it anfwevs to the India infra Gangem of the Antients: or the coun- try bounded on the north, by the Tartarian and Thibetian mountains ; on the fouth, by the fea ; on the welt by the Indus ; on the eaft, by a fup- pofed line extending to the north from the mouths of the Ganges. The country bordering on the eaftern fide of the Indus made a part of one of the Satrapies of Darius Hyftafpes ; but, fpeaking generally, the Indus was the eaPcernmofc boundary of the Perfian empire, and all the country beyond it was divided into a number of kingdoms or ftates. 2nd. Of the Antient Hiftory of Hlnduftan^ or any other part of the country to the eart of the Indus, we know little. About 160 years after the reign of Darius Hyftafpes, Alexander the Great ad- vanced, with his army, into India : that point of the Hyphafis or Beeyah, where it receives the Setlege or Setooder, was the fcene of the memora- ble refufal of Alexander's army to follow him. On his death, Seleucus made himfelt mafler of the Perfian empire ; and, turning his attention to India, fent Megafthenes, in the character of ambaffador, to Palibothra, the capital of the Prafii, or the coun- try watered by the confluence of the Jumna and Ganges. After this, with the exception of fome oc- cauoaal -B IB LIC ^5. Ill cafional mentionof accidental circuajftances, which fliow the nature of the commercial intercourie ot the Romans with the eaft, from the time they eftahliihed their dominion in Egypt, hKlory is almoft filent on the fubjedt of India, till the con- queft of it by the Mahometans. To the antient and high civilization of the inhabitants of India, facred and profane hiftory bear ample teftimony. The permanent fingu* larity of their indications is a circumftance pe- culiar to them : the mofl early and mod modern writers agree in giving the fame account of the clafles of fociety into which they ars divided ; of their religious opinions, of their habits, morals, and manners. The clafies of fociety among (hem, are ift, that of the Bramins, the moll noble or facred tribe, and the only perfons allowed to officiate in the priefthood ; 2d, that of the Khettre, or military men ; 3dly, that of the Bife, or merchants or tradefmen ; and 4thly, that of the Soodra, the hufbandmen and menial fervants. Beneath all thefe, is the Chandalah ; tliey are held in utter deteftation by the other tribes, and, are employed only in the meaneft and vileft offices. A curious account of thefe diftinh"ons and their fubdivifions, is given by Mr. Colebrooke, in his enumeration of Indian clafies, in the 5th volume of Afiatic Refearches. 3. The Philofophy of the Indians was famous i:i Greece. From Strabo. Porphyry, Apuleius, Arrian, lit, HOR^E BIB-I i &. Arrian, and Palladius, we learn, that the Antients fuppofed them divided into fe6ts, of which the Brachmans and Samanoeans were the moft famous. They are defcribed to have lived in retirement, to have avoided any intercourfe with mankind, to have abftained from wine and animal food, to have practifed great bodily aufterities, and to have endeavoured, by afliduous prayer, meditation, and abftra6tion from terrene objects, to raife themfelves to an inceffant communion with the Deity, They probably were free from idolatry, and appear to have aimed at a fublime fimplicity, above vifible objects and natural feelings. At a time, probably not much < more recent than the reign of Darius Hyftafpes, an Indian philofopher of the name of Buddha arofe in India, or fome of the adjacent iilands. Comparing what the Siamefe, Chinefe, and Japanefe relate of Sommonacodom, Fohi, and Xaha, it is not improbable, that Buddha, Sommonacodom, Fohi, and Xaha, was the fame perfon ; that he was the author of a mythological fyftem, which the initiated or adepts might, by emblematical explanation, reconcile with philo- fophy ; but which, in the fenfe in which it was received by the people at large, war the very rankeft idolatry. From this fpecies of fuper- ilition the Hindus appear to be free; but their religious fyftem is equally objectionable: the author -of it feems wholly unknown. 4. The religious tenets of the Indians are com prifed HOR^E BIBLICuE. 113 prifed in feveral books called Vedas, They are written in the Sanfcrit, a language once general in Hinduftan ; but which, after the invafion of it by the Mahometans, ceafed to be a fpoken language. All who have acquired the knowledge of it, men- tion it as the moft copious and excellent language which has yet come into notice. The Vedas, and the language in which they are written, are held fo facred, that no fet but that of the Bramins is permitted to read the former, or learn the lat- ter. The emperor Ackbar could not, either by promifes or threats, prevail on the Bramins to dif- clofc their religious credence. But their firmnefs has yielded to the courtefy* and philofophical foli- a " I have feen an extract from a foreign work of great *' literary credit, in which my name is mentioned, with ** very undeferved applaufe, for an attempt to introduce " the knowledge of Hindoo literature into the European " world, by forcing or corrupting the religious confciences '< of the Pundits, or profeflbrs of their facred doctrines. " This reflection was produced by Mr. Halhed's tranfla- tion of the Poottee, or code of laws, and is totally devoid '* of foundation. For myfelf I can declare truly, that if " the acquifition could not have been obtained but by fuch means as have been fuppofed, I mould never have fought *' it. It was contiibuted both cheerfully and gratuitoufly " by men of the moft refpectable characters for fanctity " and learning in Bengal, who refufed to accept more than " the moderate daily fubfiftence of one rupee each, during " the term that they were employed on the compilation." Extracted from Mr. Haftings's letter to Mr. Smith, pre- fixed to Mr. Wilkins's tranfiation of the Bhagvat-Geeta. I citations U4 HOR^E BIBLIC-ffi. citations of the Englifh eftablifhed in Hinduftan, and we have the fatisfadtion to hear from Sir Win. Jones, thatthe Bramins are now as willing to give, as the Englifh to receive information on their religious tenets. Of this liberal difpofition tlie Engliih have availed themfelves : it would be difficult to point out a period, during which, more valuable communications have been made to die literary world, than that which has elapfed iince she firft iuftirution of the fociety inftituted in Ben- gal, for inquiriug into the hiftory of the antiqui- ties of the arts, fciences, and literature of Afia: k yet, without undervaluing in the flighteft degree, the merit of their literary exertions, it may be doubted whether hitherto they have fucceeded fo tnuch in fixing a complete and confident fyftem, refpedling the facred, profane, and philofophic hif- tory of Afia, as in fliewiug the imperfection of the received opinions upon it. b ' I mny take; it upon me to pronounce, that the fer- " tke has at no period more abounded with men of cultivated " talents, of capacity for bufmefs, and liberal knowledge. Such ftudies. independently of their utility, tend, efpe- " cially when the purfuit of them is general, to diffufe a x generoftty of lentimfnt, and a difdain of the meaner oc- cupations as are left nearer to the flate of uncultivated nature; and you, Sir, will believe me, when I affure you, that it is on the virtue, not the ability of their fervants, that the company muft rely fxn- the permanency of their dominion.'" From Mr. Haftiags's Letter. The BIBLIC^B. 115 The Vedas contain loOjOoo ftanzas, of four lines each: they treat of divination, aftronomy, natural philofophy, the creation of the world, re- Jigious ceremonies, prayers, morality, and piety, and include hymns in praife of the Supreme Being, and in honour of fubakern intelligences. They are diflinguifhed by the names of the Rik, the Yajur, the Sam and Atharvan Vedas c . The Hindus, fuppofe that one of them came from each of the four mouths of Brama. Colonel Polier obtained a complete copy of them, and generoufly prefented it to the Britifn Mufeum. d From * Sir William Jones's orthography is here adopted. Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Halhed write the word " Veds j" Col. Dow, " Bedas j' 1 Col. Polier " Baids } " M. Anquetil du Perron, calls the four Vedas the Rak Beid, Djidir field, Ssun Beid, and Athrban Beid. * With the leave of the Truftees of the Britilh Mufeum, the reader is prefented with a copy of the letter, with which Colonel Polier accompanied his prefent. To Sir Jofeph Banks, Bart. Prefident of the Royal " Society, &c. SIR, ' SINCE the Englilh by their conquefts and ' fituation have become better acquainted with India, and '* its aboiigines the Hindous the men of fcienct ' throughout Europe have been very anxious of learning " fomething certain of thole facred books which are the * bafis of the Hmdou religion, and are known in India and 4 * clCcwhere, under the name of the Baids i many endea- I " veur U6 HOR^E BIBLIC.E. From the Vedas are deduced the four Upavedtu, called by the Hindus the Ayuili, Gandarva Dhanur, " vours we know have been exerted to procure them, not " only on the coaft of Coromandel, but alib in feveral parts " of Bengal, and even at Bennares ; but hitherto, thofe " books could not be had in any of thofe places, complete " and original, and nothing could be obtained but various " Sbafters which are only commentaries of the Balds to ' expound and explain fuch difficult paffages as occur in e them : during a long refidence in the upper provinces " of Hindoitan, I made it alfo my bufinefs, particularly to " inquire for thofe books, and the more fo, as I found thai " doubts had arifen in Europe of their very exiftence : " my refearches at Awd, Lucknow, Agra and Delhy were ' perfectly ufelef*, and I could not in any of thofe places " obtain what I wanted. Thus difappointed I thought of c fending to Jaypour for them, and was led to it from a " knowledge, that during the perfecution the Hindous fuf- " fered throughout India, and which began in the twelfth " year of the reign of Aurengzeb (the perfecution was at " its height in the year of the Hegira 1090, or of ours 1679, ' on account of the rebellion of OdaiJ>our.) The Rajah ' of Anbair Ram Sing, from the important fervices ren- " dered by his father the Great Jayfmg, and his own at- " tachment to the Emperor efcaped, if not entirely, at " leaft a great part of that perfecution, which levelled to '' the ground all the Hindou places ofworfhipin the pro- " vinces, and caufed the deftruclion of all the religious ' books which could be found belonging to the Hindous. " In confequence I wrote to a correfpondent at Jaypour, ' ' and foon learnt from him, that the Baids were to be pro- f cured there, but that no copy could be obtained from the " Brehmans without an order or permifilon from Pertab " Sing, HO R^E BIBLIC^E. 117 Dhanur, and St'hapatya ; the firft treats of medicine, and is fuppofed to have been delivered to " Sing, who was then the Rajah of that place, and is the " fame Prince who has f'o lately been engaged in war wi;h " Saindheah and who is a grandlbn of that famous Rajah " Tay Sing (Mirzah Rajah) who built Jaypour clcfe to " Anbair, and was the founder alfo of the famous oblerva- *' tories at Jaypour and Delhy, &c. and the editor of fome " curious aftronomical tables which he gave to the world under " the name of Mohammed Shah then on the throne of Delhy. " Having a fmall knowledge of the Rnjah whom I had feen " a few years before, when he paid his court to Shah A/ut.i, " then encamped in the neighbourhood of Jaypour, I he- " fitated not in applying to him by letter for his permiflion " to have the copy I fo much wanted, and my friend Don " Pedro de Silva a worthy Portugueie phyfician in the fer- "' vice of the Rajah, undertook to deliver it, and to forward ' the application with his felicitations if receflary. " Pertab Sing on reading the ktter, fmiling, afked Don " Pedro, what ufe we Europeans could make of their holy " books, on which he reprefented that it was ufual with us " to collect and confult all kinds of viluable books, of " which we formed in Europe public libraries ; and that " the Baids, though much fought after, could not be met " with any where elle, and that without his permiflion the " Brehmans rofcfed to give a copy : on this the Rajah im- " mediately iflued an order, fuch as we wanted and in the " courfe of a year paying the Brehmen tranfcribers at a certain rate per every hundred AJhlok or ftanza, I obtained <' the books which form the fubjeft of this addrefs, and * which I had fo long wifhed to poflefs. <c On my receiving thole books at Lucknow, I ilill found " many among the Europeans, who yet doubted their real 13 " authenticity, n8 HOR^E BIBLICJE. to mankind by Bramha Indra Dhanwantari, and five other deities : the ad treats of muflc. and is faid " authenticity, fo ftrong were the prejudices entertained ( from the little Aiccefs we had hitherto had in procuring " them, and from the doubts caft on their very exigence " by fome modern travellers : but the books having been fliewn to the late Rajah Anundram, a learned Brebmati, " then at Lucknow, and a perfon well known to many now " in England, he immediately recognized them for true and " authentic, and begged of me to leave them Ibme time with tc them. At my requeft he afterwards feparated them in " manageable volumes, as they now are, and this I thought " neceffary, the better to preferve them, for originally they * were in loofe meets 5 the Hindoos in general feldom or " never binding their facred books, particularly the Baufs. tc But I was obliged to promife him which I readily did, " they fliould not be bound in any kind of leather, but " either in filk or velvet : Rajah Anundram further num- " bered the pages, and with his own hand, wrote in Per- " fian characters, for my information, not only the title " page of each volume, but alfo of each feftion and the " number of leaves they feverally contain. " By this it may be ieen how little a dependence is to be te placed in the affertions of thofe who h.we i eprefented the " Brehmans as very averfe to the communication of th* " principles of their religion, their myfteries, and holy " books : in tru'.h I have always found thofe who were " really men of fcience and knowledge, very ready to im- " part and communicate what they knew to whoever would " receive it and lillen to them, with a view of information, " and not merely for the purpofe of turning into ridicule " whatever was not perfectly confonant to our European * ideas, tenets and even prejudices, fome of which I 3 " much ^ BIB LIC ^. IK; to have beeninvented or explained by Rharata- the. gd Upaveda, compofed by Vifvvamitra, treafs of " much fear are thought by the Indians to be full s.s de- " fervingqf ridicule as anything they have. At the fsme tin.e " it mull be owned that all the Hindons, the Brehtnans only * excepted, are forbidden by their religion from ftudying *' and learning the Baiih*. The K'hatiys alone being per- " mitted to hear them read and expounded: this being the " cue it will naturally be a(ked how came an European who is not evert-of the fame faith, to be favoured with *' what ie denied even to a Hindou ? To this the Brekmans '* readily reply that being now in the Cat Jog, or fourth age, in which religion is reduced to nought, it matters not who fees or ftudies them in thefe days of wickednefs, *< fince by the decrees of the Supreme Being it muft be fo. *' At the fame time, notwithftanding, I have not obferved " that the Baids are a bit the more explained to the two " lower clafles among the'Hindous, the Bats, and th " Sondtr. " To i-eturn from this digreflion. PofTefled now of ' thefe facred manufcripts, which I procured for the folc *< purpofe of communicating to thofe wlio wcnild benefit from their perufal, I foon after fent them to Sir Wm. Jones, the only European, then in Indh I believe, who -" could read and expound any part of them. From that " learned gentleman, whofe knowledge and merits are far " above my praife, we may expeft to learn in the future " memoirs of the Afiatic Society what are his opinions re- lative to them, the furmifes in India, and even among " the Brehmant about the authenticity, or at leaft the merits " of one of the four Baids called <he Atterban, and in all " likelihood fome extracts and tran'flations from each 5 and " on that account, I fiiall beg leave to refer you for any 14 "further 120 HOR^S BIBLlC^ffi. of the fabrication and ufe of the weapons of war of the military tribe : the 4th, containing various treatifes " further information, on thefe books, to one who is fo com- " petcnt to give the public thefulleft and the trueft. " The Baids are now in London, and accompany thjs " addrefsj the purport of which is, to requelt of you, Sir, " as one of the truftees of the Britifh Muieum, to receive " and lodge them in that noble and valuable repository, as " a fmall token and tribute of refpeft and admiration, from " one who though not born a natural fubjeft, yet having " fpent the beft part of his life in the ffirvice of this country, is really unacquainted with any other. Allow me at the " fame time, Sir, to take the opportunity thus offered me of " exprefling the fentiments of refpeft I entertain for you, " and which are fo juftly and on fo many accounts your " due. " I have the honour to be, " Sir, " Your mod obedient and very humble Servant, " ANTY. POLIER." " London, zotb May, 1789. " P. S. I have further to requeft, that in depofiting the " Beads in the Bi itim Mufeum, it may be fpecified particu- " larly, that either Sir William Jones now in India, or Mr. " Wilkins now in London, fhall at any time be allowed to " have one of the volumes of the Baids (at a time) to take " home with them, on their declaration it is for the purpofe *' of making extracts or tranflations out of them, and giv- " ing fecurity for its being returned; and I am led to do " this, with the more pleafure and readinefs, in confidera- " tion of what is due from the public to thofe gentlemen fc for the great trouble they have been at, in learning fo " difficult treatifes omhe mechanical arts, was revealed by Vifwacarman. If the expreffion may be ufed, the Vedas are the fcriptures, the Upavedas are the fubfcriptures of the Hindus. Six Vedangas or bodies of learning are de- rived from thefe fourees; they \vere written by different holy men, and treat of pronunciation, religious ceremonies, grammar, profody, aftro- nomy, and the difficult phvafes in the Vedas. Subordinate to thefe are, ift, the Puranas, a. .feries of mythological hiftories in blank verfe, .from the creation of the world to the fuppofed incarnation of Buddha ; 2dly, the Dherma, con- fitting of various works relating to the' jurifpru- dence of the Hindus; and 3dly, the Derjana, confirming of feveral works on different fubje&s of their .philofophy. e An " difficult a language as the Sanfcrit, and opening by that " mean, to the European world, a new iburce of know* " ledge. " As above, " ANTY. POLIER.'* " Among the Puranas," fays Mr. Haftings in the letter already quoted, ' and of fuperior eftimation to the reft, is " ranked the Mababharat. It contains the genealogy and " general hiftory of the houfe of Bhaurat, fo called from tf Bhurrut its founder: the epithet Maha, or Cireat, being ' prefixed in token of diftin&ion : but its more particular ' objeft is to relate the diflenfions and wars of the two " gi-eat 122 HORJE IUBLI%-ffi. An extraft from the .Vedas has been published lately by M. Anquetil du Perron, under the title Oupnekot," " great collateral branches of it, called Kooroos and Pan- " doosj both lineally descended, in the fecond degree, *' from Veecheetraveerya, their common anceftor, by their ' refpeclive father's Dreetraraftitra and Pandoo. " The Kooroos, which indeed is fometimes ufed as * " term comprehending the whole family, but moft fre- " quently applied as the patronymic of the elder branch " alone, are faid to have been one hundred in number, of " whom Dooryodun was efteemed the head and reprefenta- " tive, even during the life of his father, who -was incapaci- tated by blindnefs. The fens of Pandoo were five ; " Yoodhifhteer, Bheem, Arjoon, Nekool, and Sehadeo; " who, through the artifices of Dooryodun, were banifhed, " by their uncle and guardian Dreetrarafhtra, from Hafte- " napoor, at that time the feat of government of Hin- doftan. " The exiles, after a feries of adventures worked up with ' a wonderful fertility of genius and pomp of language ' into a thoufand fublime defcriptions, returned with a " powerful army to avenge their wrongs, and aflert their * pretenfions to the empire in right of their father: by 11 whom, though the younger brother, it had been held whiie he lived, on account of the diiqualification already " mentioned of Dreetraramtra." A translation of a valuable extract from the Mahabliarat was publiflied, in the year 1785, by Mr. VVilkius, under the title of " The Bhugvatgeeta, or Dialogues of KTiieflina " and Arjoon, in eighteen le&uies, with notes ; tranflated " from the original in the Sanlcrit, or antient language of *' the Brahmans." An advertiiement informs us, that it was publiflied under the authority of the Court of Directors of . 125 " Qupnckat" (id eft, Sccretum Tcgendum) " o/w*, " ipja in India rarjjjimum> continent antiquam et " arcanam of the Eaft India Company. Mr. Haftings's letter to Mr. Smith then follows! after it, comes a concifc but very in- ftrufctive preface by th tranflator, and then the tranflation, with notes. It is executed in that admirable ftyle of fevere fimplicity, which a confummate tafte alone can reach. From the geperal ignorance of the SiiV'crit language, few are capable of pronouncing on its fidelity : but we have a ftrong teftimony in its favour, in Mr. Halhed's preface to his translation of the Oupnekat, now depotited in the BritHh Mufeum. Mr. Haftings's letter does him the greateft honor ; it is a noble difplay of enlarged and virtuous views for the govern- ment of a great country : the following extract from it is evidence of bJs clafiical tafte and judgment. " Might I, an unlettered man, venture to prefcrihc " bounds to the latitude of critic! I'm, I fliould exclude, in " eftimatrng the merit of fuch production, all rules drawn " from the antient or modern literature of Europe, all re- " ferences to luch fentiments or manners as are become the " ftandards of propriety for opinion and action in cue own " modes of life, and equally all appeals to our revealed ft tenets of religion, and moral duty. I fhould exclude " them, as by no means applicable to the language, fenti- " ments, manners, or morality, appertaining to a fyftem of '* fociety with which we have been for ages unconnected, " and of antiquity preceding even the firft efforts of civiliza- * tion in our own quarter of the globe, which, in refpeit to the general diffufion and common participation of arts " and fciences, may be confidered as one community. " I would exact from every reader the allowance of ob- fcurity, i4 HOR^E BTBLIC^E. '* arcanam feu Theologicam et Phihfophicam doc- " tr'tnam^ e qaatuor facris Indorwn Libris, Rak Beid, ' Djejr Beid, Sam Beid, Arthrban Beid, ex- " ccrptam> ad verbum, et Perjico idiqmate Sanjkre- " ticis vocalulis inlermixto, in Latinum converfum, ' dijjertationibus et annotationibus difficiliora expla- " nantibus illuftratum^ jludio et opera Anquetil du " Perron^ Indicopleufta. Tom. 1 . 4*0. Argentorati etParifm:* A much more intelligible, and, perhaps, a muck abler tranflation of this work, made by Mr. Halhed, through the medium of a Perfian tranflation, *< fcurity, abfurdity, barbarous habits, and a perverted ' morality. Where the reverfe appears, I would have him ' receive it (to ufe a familiar phrafe) as fo much clear gain, " and allow it a merit proportioned to the difappointment of ' a different expectation. .< In effecl, without befpeaking this kind of indulgence, I could hardly venture to perfift in my recommendation of *' this production for public notice. " Many paffages will be found obfeure, many will feem " redundant; others will be found clothed with ornaments * of fancy unfuited to our tafte, and fome elevated to a " track of fublimity into which our habits of judgment will " find it difficult to purfue them ; but few which will fliock " either our religious faith or moral fentiments. Some- " thing too muft be allowed to the fubje6l itfelf, which is " highly metaphyfical, to the extreme difficulty of render- ' ing abftracl terms by others exactly correfponding with " them in another language, to the arbitrary combination of " ideas, in words expreffing unfubftantial qualities, and ' more, to the errors of interpretation." H-O R M B I B L I C J5E. 125 is depoilted in the Biitilh Mufeum. It is obferva- ble that in the Lettres Edlfiantes et Curieufes, Ed. 178.1, it is explicitly aflTerted, ift, that the Vedas were in the hands of the miflionaries : aclly, that a copy of them was in] the king of France's library : 3dly, that there was an Arabic tranflation of them. 13 vol. p. 394. 437. 14 vol. p. 6. 65. Father Pons's Letter, to which the laft of tliefe references are made, defcrves a ferious perufal/ Among the Dhermas or works of law, none are held by the Hindoos in fuch veneration, as the Injlitutes of Menu ; a fyftem of religious and civil duties which the Hindoos firmly believe to have been promulgated by Menu, the fon or grandfon of Brama. A tranflation of it has been lately ' publiflied by Sir William Jones. f Having mentioned this letter to Mr. Wilkin?, that able judge of Sanfcrit literature pronounced it omni exceptions majors it will not fuffer in a comparifon with Sir Wm. Jones's Difcourfes on Hindu Literature. La Porte diverts of Abraham Roger, is^ne of the moft curious works which has yet appeared on the Mythology of the Hindus, and de- ferves to be more generally known. Mr, Maui ice's valuable publications intitlehim to the thanks of all oriental fcholart: by publifhing his tranflation of ihe Mahabharar, Mr. Wilkins will confer on them a veiy great literary favor. The writer begs leave to mention, in this place, his obligations to Mr. Plai>ta, the principal librarian of the Britifli Mufeum, for innumerable fervices rendered him in the courfe of this publication. To a gentleman more ready to oblige, the care of that lirerary treafure could not have been configned : Jicjiti latantur lares, 5. Several ii6 H O R M B I B L I C M. 5. Several attempts have been made to difcove? the a:ra of the firjl foundation of th* Indian empire, and to fettle the different ages of the 'publications ivs have mentioned. The moft fpecious fyftem, on thefe fubjecls, which has yet appeared, is that of Sir William Jones. He traces the foundation of the Indian empire above 3800 years from the prefent time ; the higheft age of the Yajur Veda to 1580 -years before the birth of our Saviour, or roo years before the time of Mofes ; and the higheft ageof the Inftitutesof Menu, to 1280 years before the birth of our Saviour. The opinions of Mr. Freret and Mr. Bailly are nearly the fame : but Sir William Jones admits thefe to be the higheft pomble dates which can be affigned to the works in queftion ; and, in fixing the seras of the Vedas and the Inftitutes of Menu, he does not fpeak of them as exiftiug, at the period he afiigns to them, in the form we now have them ; he confulers them to have then been in a ftate of traditional exiftence. Such is the outline of Sir William Jones's fyftein ; but it is importable not to wim, that the facls upon which, on this and other occafions he builds his premifes, were efta- Wimed with more certainty, and that the conclu- fions he deduces from them were fupported by inferences and arguments lefs nicely fpun. The age of the Puranas is ftill more uncertain ; their pretenfions to high antiquity feem completely overthrown by Mr. Bentley in his Diifertation, in the II O R M B I B L I C M. 127 tlie 6th volume of .the Afiatic Refearches, on the Surya Siddhanta : and his arguments indirectly affect the fuppofed high antiquity of the Vedas. All, who take an interefl in the advancement of ufeful or elegant learning, mud anxioufly wifh that Afiatic literature fliould meet with every fpecies of encouragement. Generally fpeaking, in literature as in commerce, the public is the beft patron : and the adventurer feldom fucceeds fo well, as when he is left to his own exertions : but fome- rimes it happens that particular encouragement is neceffary, and premiums advances and bounties have their ufe. The infant ft ate of Afiatic litera- ture, the fmall number of thole who can devote their time to the ftudy of it, and the difficulty and expenfe attending the acquifition of it, feem to make this one of the cafes in which the public fliould ftimulate the exertion of the individual, by leflen- ing the expenfe and fmoothing the difficulty of his purfuits, and by multiplying the means of his fuccefs. A fum of money, the appropriation of which to fuch a purpofe, would neither be felt in England or Alia, and which would fcarcely be difcernible in an Indian budget, would, if juti- cioufly expended in defraying the charges of fcientific and obferving travellers, in engraving curious and iaflruftive objedls of art, and particu- larly in procuring faithful tranflations of original works of acknowledged value, open to us, in a few years, the choiceft treafures of the caft. Such ia8 HORJE BIBLICT^. Such a meafure would be worthy of the merchant kings, to whom, as the beft managers of it for the public welfare, the Britifh nation exclufively trufts her Afiatic trade. Under their aufpices, the Britifli arms have triumphed in almofl every territory between the Indus and the Ganges, and every fhore of the great Peninfula, has been tri- butary to Britifli commerce. That to deferve well of their country is their earneft wim, we all know ; now wealth and power are feldom fo well employed, as in the encouragement of thofe, whofe labours increafe the knowledge, refine the rafte, or elevate the genius of their countrymen : and if they are defirous of fair fame, they mufk be fenfible that the mofl certain method of obtain- ing it, is to connect their names with great literary inftitutions, and to fecure the gratitude of the artift and the fcholar. X. 3. LEAVING Hinduftan, we muft take a nortli- ca^ernly courfe, to arrive at CHINA, andconfider the feveral books accounted facred in that coun- try. Something (hould be premifed, ift, on the origin and antiquity of its empire ; 2dly, on the geographical notions which the antients entertained of it ; and 3dly, on the rife and progrefs of the intercourfe between it and Europe. I. The origin and antiquity of the empire of China are among the queftions, which have exercifed, in. H O R JE B I B L I C IE. 139 in a particular manner, the ingenuity of the learned. After much difcuffion, five things ap- pear to be fettled, with fome appearance of pre* cifion :- ift, that the moft probable opinion, re- fpe&ing the origin of the Chinefe, is, that China was firffc peopled from* Hinduftan : this is the univerfal belief of the learned of Benares, and is confirmed by a paflage, cited for the purpofe, by Sir William Jones, from the Inftitutes of Menu, a work, which, in a queftion of this nature, is of the very higheft authority ; ad, that the original feat of the Chinefe muft be fought for in Chinfi, the moft north-weftern province of the prefent empire of China ; ^d f that, adopting the fomflritnq chronology, the sera of the Chinefe empire may be fixed, with fome latitude of calculation, at 2,500 years before Chrift ; 4th, that, with the fame latitude, its hiftorical sera may be fixed at 800 years before Chrift ; 5th, that the actual form and extent of the Chinefe government, may be dated from the dynafty of Hane, 206 years before Chrift ; 6th, and that, to repel the invafion of the Huns, the celebrated Wall of China was built about a cen- tury before the acceflion of that dynafty. 2. In refpecT: to its Geography, it already has been obferved, that the geographical knowledge of the Greeks did not extend, in the noith- eaftern parts of Alia, much beyond the Imaus or Caf. The geographical knowledge of the Romans K extended I 3 o HORJE B I B LI C JE. extended much farther ; their Serica regio was a part of the Scythia extra Imaum, and ftretched from the Atyai mountains, over the country of Chami, to Kantcheou in a north-weftern part of the province of Chinfi. Till d'Anville aflerted and eftabliihed a contrary opinion, modern geo- graphers fuppofsd the Sinarum regio, correfponded with China : he has fhown its correfpondence with Cochin China. 3. The antient Roman hiftorians are wholly ftlent on thefubjel of any political relations be- .tween Rome and China ; the indefatigable induftry of M. de Guignes, (Mem. de 1* Academic, Tom. 32, p. 355)) has proved that there was an occa- . iional intercourse between them from the Chinefe writers; and Ptolemy, Ammianus Marcellinus, and other authors, fhow, that a confiderable trade, in the article of filk, was carried on between China and the weftern parts of Afia, and Europe. It was managed by caravans, fome of which took a northern, and others a. fouthern route : the former pafled over the Great Defer t to Kaftigar, where Ptolemy fixes the ftation of the merchants, qui ad Seres profijlfcuntur ; thence, the caravans proceeded to Samarcand, and thence through Perfia to Syria : the whole journey took up 243 days, but a great proportion of the commodity was purchafed, in its paflage, by the merchants of Nifib'is and Armenia. The fouthern route took the caravans through the mountains of Thibet, to the HOR^ BIBLIC^E. 131 the GufczafSt) where they were met by the mer- chants of the weft. The commerce was alfo car- " fied on by fea: the (hips of the Chinefe failed from its caftern ports to Malacca, or to Achem, the Promontory of Sumatra ; and, when that was not the term of the -voyage, they failed on t6 Ceylon, the Taprobane of the Antients, where they were met by the merchants of the Perfian Gulph and the countries adjacent. Such was the nature of the commercial intercourfc between China and Eu- rope, till the reign of the emperor Juftinian, when filkworms were introduced into Europe. From that time the intercourfe between the countries, gradually wore away ; and, at the end of a few- centuries, Europe alrfloft wholly forgot the ex- iftence, and even the name of China. The hif- tory of the introduction of the filk worm into Europe, is one of the moft pleating parts of Mr. Gibbon's work. 4. The firft writer to whom, after that time, we are indebted for an account of China, is Cofmas In- dicopleujies, or the Indian Navigator : he performed his voyage, about the year 522: a valuable extradt of it, was given in French and Greek by Thevenot, (Relations Curieufes,) and the whole of it was publifhed by Montfaucon in his Nova Collefiio Patrum. But the work of Cofmas Indicopleuftes was foon forgotten, and Europe generally remained in ignorance of China, till about the end of the K 2 I tth I 3 * HOR^E ZIEL1CJE. 1 2th century, when 'John Car fin a Polonefe friar, and Rubruquis a French friar, penetrated into it, and, on their return, publifhed accounts of ir. Tn the following century, the travels of Marco Poh> in Tartary and China, made their appear- ance: what he faid of China, was, at firft, thought fabulous; by degrees it was more favour- ably received, and infenfibly obtained general credit. Soon after the Portuguefe doubled the Cape of Good Hope, their mips reached China ; and they obtained leave to fettle at Macao. Several priefts of the order of St. Ignatius, ad- vanced into different parts of the country : their knowledge of the arts and fciences recommended them to the court ; of this circumftance they availed themfelves to propagate the Gofpel; an account of their labours, and their viciflitudes of favour and perfecution, and many curious cir- cumftances refpe<5ting the natural, civil, and re- ligious hiftory of the country, have been pub- lifhed by them in feveral works, particularly their Lettres Edifiantes et Curreufcsy of which Fon- tenelle faid, that he had never read a work which anfwered better to its title. Of the general ac- curacy of thofe letters, and the works of Father Du Halde and Father Gaubil, the author has often heard the late Sir George Staunton fpeak in the higheft terms: his teftimony is certainly of great weight ; and the author avails himfelf with much fatisfa&ion, of this opportunity of men- tioning HOR^E BIBLIC^E, 133 tiohing a gentleman, whofe talents and uncon- querable vigour of mind, rendered his country eflential fervices on many important occafions, and whofe many amiable and eftima'ble qualities, will long remain in the memory of his numerous friends, and are feen by them, with great pleafure, to furvive in his fon. The labours of de Guignes, the Fourmonts and Freret, are well known: an interefting account of the rife and progrefs of Chi- nefe literature in Europe, is prefixed by Bayer, to his Mufcum Sinicum. 5. All the works of literature which the Chi- nefe have compofed are divided by them into four clavTes; ift, that of Kings, or the Sacred Books;- ad, that of Su or Che, or Books of Hiftory; 3d, that of Tfu or Tfe, or Books of Philofophy ; 4th, that of Fele, or Mifcellanies. The Kings, or Sacred Books, anfwer to what we call Theology: they are divided into two clafles ; the firft are five in number ; the Y-King, the Chou-King, the Chi- King, the /-/', and Tchun- tficou. The Y-King oonfifts of horizontal lines, entire or cut, multiplied and combined into flxty- four different forms or pofitions : (hey appear in- volved in impenetrable myftery, but fome writers have affec"led to difcover in them the origin of all beings, the principles of natural hiftory, and the harmony of the univerfe. The Chou-king contained the public annals of the nation : all that remains of it are fragments collected by Confucius; his K 3 objed 134 HOR^ffi BIBLIC^. object ill compiling them, was to form a collection of the precepts and inftrudtions given by princes to their miniflers and fubjedts : a tranflation of it was publifhed by Father Gaubil. The Chi- King is a collection of poems on different fubjedts ; a tranflation of it was made by Father Gaubil, and publifhed by M. de Guignes in 1770. The Li-ki cootaincd the civil and religious ceremonial of the Ghinefe ; all that remains of it, is an extract of it publiihed in the reign of Ham, about 200 years be- fore the Chriftian aera . The Tchun-tfieou is a work of Confucius which contains the annals of 12 kings, who reigned in Lou, his native country. A work, ranked among the facred books, called the Yo- king on the fubjedt of mufic, formerly exifted, but it is wholly loft. Thirty other works are called Kings ; they are held in great refpedr., but are not deemed facred. The fecond clafs of the Sacred Books of the Chinefe confifts of the Su-Chu, or the four Books: they are moral writings compofed by Confucius or his difciples. Many commentaries have been written, and many dictionaries have been compofed, to facili- tate the intelligence of the facred books. " They " contain," fays Father Premare, (Lettres Edif. et Curi. Tom. 21. p. 218. Ed. 1781), " thewhole ' of the Chinefe Religion. In the fundamental " doctrines of them may be found the principles of l< natural law, which the antient Chinefe received *' from HOR^E BIBLIC^. 135 ** from the fons of Noah : they teach the reader " to know and reverence the Supreme Being. " Like the Patriarchs, under the unwritten law, " the emperor is both king and pontiff: to him u it belongs to offer, at certain times of the year, " facrifice for his people ; to him it belongs to " prefcribe ceremonies, to decide on doctrines. " This alone can be called the eftablifhed religion " of China ; all other fe<5ts are considered by " them to be extraneous, falfe, and pernicious, " and are only tolerated. The Chriftian reli- *' gion was declared lawful by a public edicl: ; ia " a fubfequent reign, it was profcribed." The whole of Father Premare's letter deferves to be read : it is entitled to all the praife beftowed by Montefquieu, (Efprit dex Loix, /. 8. ^.31), on the letters of Father Parennin and Father Mairan. X. 4. CONSIDERING the great attention which the learned of Europe have beftowed on the An- tiquities of the North, it may be a matter of fur- prife that Icelandic literature, and particularly the EDDA, has been fo little the fubjecl of their inquiries. Something will be faid in this place, ift, of the Antient Hiftory of Ice- land; 2dly, of the Edda in general; 3dly, of the Edda of Sasmund; 4thly, of the Edda of K 4 Snorro ; 136 HOR^BIBLIC^E. Snorro ; and 5thly, a fhort view will then be given of the Mythology of the Edda. I. It is probable that Iceland was originally peopled from England or Ireland. Of its hif- tory, till it was difcovered by the Norwegians about the middle of the ^th century we know very little. It is faid that the Norwegians found in it fome veftiges of Chriftianity : in 981, a Saxon Bifhop, of the name of Friederick. attempted its converfion ; he was not favourably received, but, after much oppofition, the whole nation was con- verted to the Chriftian faith, about the eleventh century. The Lutheran Religion was introduced into it by Chriftian III. in 1550. In refpect to its literature, the learned of their country divide it into four ftages: according to them, its infancy extended to 1056, the year affigned to the final eftablimment of Chriftianity; from that time till the year mo, when their fchools and feminaries for learning were firft inftituted, its literature is faid by them to have been in its youth ; then its manhood began, and lafted till the I4th century, when it fell to decay. In the fecond and third of thefe periods, while the greateft part of Europe was almoft buried in ignorance, every fpecies of litera- ture was cultivated in Iceland with great fuc- cefs. 2- To the Icelandic Literati we are principally indebted for what we know of the Edda. The learned HOR^B BIB LI CM. 137 learned are not agreed in their opinion, -cirhe-r of the meaning or etymology of that word. In a general fenfe it may be ufed to denote the antient fongs or memorials, either in the Icelandic language, or in any of the antient languages of Scandinavia, which exprefs the mythology of the ' North, concerning Odin and his companions. In a more limited fenfe it is ufed to denote two publications, the Edda of Saermmd and the Edda of Snorro. So far as the writer can perceive, the fcenes of all the antient fongs or memorials, which compofe the Eddas contained in thefe publications, or Scattered in other works, are Danifh, Swcdifh, or Norwegian, and never Icelandic : from this it may be inferred, that the w-hole fyftem of mytho- logy expreffed in them was carried from Scan- dinavia to Iceland : now, as Scandinavia was converted to Chriftianity about the eleventh cen- tury, it feems to follow, that the Eddie mytho- logy muft have been imported into Iceland before that time. It muft be added, that, this is conform- able to the notion given of it by Adam of Bremen, Saxo Grammaticus, and other writers of authority ; we may therefore fafely conclude that the two publications demonftratively fhow that the Edda, in the large fenfe affigncd to that word, contains the antient creed of Scandinavia, before its con- verfion to Chriftianity. 3. Having thus fpoken of the Edda in the moft general fenfe which can be afcribed to that word, we 138 HORJ BIBL1CJE. we have to notice each of the two particular Eddals, which have been mentioned. The firft is the Edda of Samund: he was born in 1056, travelled to Rome in fearch of knowledge, returned to his native country about 1076, and died about 1133. To him the antient Edda, as it is called, in op- pofition to the Edda afterwards publiflied by Snorro, is afcribed. Two of the mod important poems in the Edda of Saemund, the Volufpa and Haavamaal, and a third called Odins Magic, were publifhed by Refenius in feparate pamphlets. The Volufpa is the Oracle or Prophecy of Vola, a Scandinavian Sibyl, and contains the whole My- thology of the Edda ; the Haavamaal> or the f ub- lime difcourfe of Odin, contains, in about 120 ftrophes, certain leffons of morality fuppofed to be pronounced by Odin himfelf. Refenius pub- lifiied an edition of it from another manufcript in 1673: the difference between the editions is con- fiderable. Thefe poems were all we poflefled of the antient Edda, till the, /year 1787, when the whole of the Mythologic part of it, not publimod by Refenius, was printed .at Copenhagen, in one large quarto volume. t . The preface contains an account of the Eddie mythology, and of theManu- fcripts from which the poems are printed ; a curi- ous life of Saemund follows, and then the poems : they are thirteen in number. The ninth of them is the journey of Odin to hell, fo finely tranilated HOR/E BTBLTC^. 139 translated by Mr. Gray: he has omitted to tranf- latc the five firft ftanzis; without them it is im- poflible to comprehend the action of the poem ; and even with them feveral parts of it are very .obfcure. Dreams of a terrible kind had intimated to the god Balder, one of Odin's fons, that he fhould foon die : he communicated them to the other gods ; they were alarmed, and agreed to conjure away the danger with which he was threatened: with that view they fent Odin, and Friga his wife, to exact an oath from every object; in nature, not to hurt Balder. Odin and Friga executed the commifnon. Still Odin was uneafy; he called a new council, and not hearing any thing fatisfactory, he " up rofe with fpeed." Here Mr. Gray's translation of the poem begins : when the prophetefs appears, he afiumes a feigned name and character, and alks her, in the figura- tive Style of the Edda, for whom the ornamented bed, (fuch as according to the Eddie Mythology- awaited martial heroes in the next life, immedi- ately on their deceafe), was then prepared; fhe replies for Balder, and fays his ihield already- hung over the bowl of mead prepared for him ; this was another reward of heroes: then follow the queftions and replies respecting the author and avenger of Balder's death. Odin then inquires who the virgins are, who fo greatly bewail Bal- der's fate; by this queflion, the prophetefs in- ftantly perceives the deception put on her, and that 140 HORJE BISL that (he is talking to the " King of Men :'* but it has been a{ked, how is this intimated by the queftion ? Now in the Edda of Snorro, it is re- lated, that on the death of Balder, Friga his mother, fent Hermod to Hela the goddefs of Death, to perfuade her to give him up ; Hela re- quired that all things animate or inanimate fhould bewail his death : to this general lamentation Odin refers; the prophetefs feels that this is a circum- flance which none but Odin could forefee, and {he therefore breaks out into the exclamation, " King of Men, I know thee now !" This feems to explain the poem fatisfadtorily. The poem as it (lands in Saemund's Edda, and the account of Baider's death in the Edda of Snorro, may be read as curious fpecimens of each. In Ssemund's Edda, the poems are followed by a Dictionary. It is difficult to afcertain the age of thefe poems with precifion: we have ob- ferved that they are of an earlier date than the in- troduction of Chriftianity into Iceland by the Norwegian fettlers ; the arguments of Saemund's editor to prove they are of the Qth century are very ftrong. Such is the antient Edda. It is evident that Saemund was at moft the compiler of it, and his being the compiler of it, is uncertain ; it is by no means clear that we are in poffeffion of all the fables or mythologies originally inferted in the compilation which goes under his name ; and that compilation, H-ORJB BIBLIC^. i 4l compilation, probably, did not contain all the Eddie fables or mythological tales then extant. 4. The modern Edda is unqueftionably the work of Snorro Sturlefon: he was born in 1179, was fupreme judge of Iceland from 1215 to 1222, and died in 1241. His work is an abridgment of Eddie mythology in the form of a dialogue. It was publimed by Refenius in 1665; a new edition, (which the writer has not been able to procure), of part of the modern Edda was pub- lilhed by Goranfon, at Upfal, in 1746. In 1763, Mr. Mallet published his Hiftoire de Dannemarc, in fix volumes odlavo ; the two firft of them ferve as an Introduction : and the fecond of them contains a tranilation of part of the Edda. Under the title of Northern Antiquities, an excellent Engliih tranflation of the two firft volumes of Mr. Mallet's work, with a learned preface and valuable notes, and with Goranfon's Latin verfion of the Edda, was publirtied in 1770. We are princi- pally indebted for it to the learned and polite pen of the Bifhop of Dromore. It has been obferved that Refenius's edition contains, befides the modern Edda, the Volufpa, the Haavamaal, and the Magic of Odin of the antient or Saamund's Edda. In Refenius's edition, the Edda of Snorro it preceded by a dedication in 58 pages to Frederick III. This is followed by a preface of 52 pages, containing an account of the antient and modern Edda, 142 HOR7E BIBLICJE. Edda, and of Sasmund and Snorro ; the modern Edda then follows. Every chapter firft appears in the Icelandic language, in Danifti chara&ers, then in a Danifh, and afterwards in a Latin tranfla- tion. The Danifh is by Stephanius, the Latin by Magnus Uiai ; various readings are noticed from manuicnpis, and the Latin tranflation : neither page nor folio is marked in the book. In Refenius's edition, the Edda contifts of 78 mythologies or fables, in Goranfon's of 26, in Mallet of 33 ; but the divifion of the chapters is arbitrary, the matter, as far as they all proceed together, being the fame. . Refenius's edition, contains three introdu&ory chapters ; the two nrft are very fliort, the third is long, and is omitted both by Goranfon and Mallet; both Goranfon and Mallet ftop with the end of the 50th fable in Refenius's edition. Thus far the works confift of a dialogue between a king of Sweden, called Gylfe, and the gods, at their court at Afgard. Gylfe propofes quef- tions, which fome of the gods anfwer ; they turn on the nature of the gods, and their adventures. The ad part contains an account of a fimilar dialogue between the gods and ^Egaera Danish lord. They receive his vifit with great ceremony ; the god Eragge fits down by him, and narrates their exploits and adventures to him. This pan of the Edda ends with the 62d fable or mythology ; the remainder of the work, except the 68th and 69th BIBLIC^. 143 69th and ^oth divifions, which are of the mytho- logical kind, is hiflorical, with a confiderable in- termixture of fable. The work concludes with an epilogue of no confequence, and probably an inter- polation. It is followed by the Scalda, a kind of poetical dictionary for the ufe of ftudents, with ob- fervations on the language, and its orthography, and on the ftrudlure of the verfes of the poetical works written in it. Such are the Antient and New Eddas of Ssemund and Snorro ; the reputation and importance, in many refpe&s, of the Edda, loudly call for a new and complete edition of them. This is Mr. Pinkerton's obfervation in an ufeful and inftru&ive manufcript on the Edda, which he kindly per- mitted the writer to perufe. 5. Od'm is the hero of the Edda : but the whole of his hiftory is involved in fable and obfcurity. It is a probable conjecture that the tribes, which he led into Scandinavia, came originally from the countries reaching to the Caucafus from the north of Perfia ; and that, by different irruptions, they fucceffively extended their conquefts over the Volga,; the Tanais, and each fide of the Baltic : it alfo is probable, that, at the time of their irrup- tion into the Scandinavian countries, which is referred to by the Edda, the principal feat of their refidence was Afoph, and that Odin was their leader. We are told that, by a variety of heroic a&s of valour and confummate military fkill, he perfuaded J44- II O R rS B I B L I C IE. perfuaded his troops that he poflefTed more than mortal powers ; that he himfelf chcriflied this opinion among them ; and that to confirm them in It, when he found the approach of age and in- firmity, he called an aflembly of the principal of his fabjects, and wounded himfelf in nine mortal places, haftening away, (as he declared with his dying voice), to prepare the feaft of the heroes in the palace of the god of war. The enthufiaftic admiration of his follower^ at firft compared him, then identified him with that deity. This confufion in the ideas of the Scandinavians affets the Edda ; there Odin is fometimes an hero highly gifted and favoured ; fometimes he is the god of war himfelf. As the mythology of the Scandinavians became more refined, the number of their deities increafed. They affigned Odin the wife we have mentioned, Fripa-or Fria, the Scandinavian Venus. Twelve O gods and twelve goddeffes, all of whom were children of Odin, completed the celeftial family: Thor, the god o thunder, was the moft powerful of them ; Balder, the god of grace and eloquence, was the Scandinavian Apollo ; Loke, the god ef cunning, was at once their Momus, their Mercury, and their Akriman : he had fcveral children, and ieveral monflers were born of him, the wolf Fenris, the ferpent Medgard, ajid Hela or Death. The gods have chained up the wolf, thrown the ferpent Into the fea, caft Hela into the lower world. HOR^fe $ IE LI CM. j 4 World, where {he reigns over the dead; and fhut tip Loke in a cavern under the earth, where, by His rage, he Ihakes the world with earthquakes. Each of the twelve goddefles has her feparate and characleriftic powers : feveral virgins are afligned tt> wait on the heroes after their death : every day rhe heroes engage in moft violent battles, mounted' on fiery Heeds, and clothed in refplendent armour ; they give and receive wounds ; but> when the battle' is over, they bathe in a fountain of living 1 water; they are inftantly healed, and* then (it down to a ftimpruous repair, at which Odin prefides,. and' pafs the remaining hours in circling goblets of' mead, and martial fongi- But all this is temporary; the twilight' of tht gods, as it is termed in- the Edda, will arrive, when Loke will break from his confinement, when the Human race, the ftars, the moon- and the: fun will' difappear, the earth fink in the feas, fire confume the fkies, and Odin hirnfelf and his kindred gods will periih. A myfleriaus and all powerful be- ing, who- feems to have nothing in common with Odin, and who, before this grand cataflrophe, is fcarcely difcernible in the Eddie mythology, will then come on the ftage, and renovate the, univerfe. This is the moft curious paflage in the Edcla; it is thus exprefled, in the tranflation wa have mentioned. " There will come a time," fays the. Edda, " a barbarous age, an, age of the fword, when L " iniquity * 4 6 H O R JE E I B L I C JS. "iniquity fhall infeft the earth, when bro- " thers {hah ftain themfelves with brothers " blood, when fons fhali be the murderers of * their fathers, and fathers of their fons, when " inceft and adultery {hall be common, when no *' man fhall fpare his friend. Immediately fhall 44 fucceed a defolaung winter; the fnow (hall fall " from the four corners of. the world, the winds " fliall blow with fury, the whole earth fhall be " rhard bound in ice. Three fuch winters fhall pafs " away, without being foftened by one fummer. " Then fhall fucceed afionifliing prodigies: then " fhall the monfters break their chains and 11 efcape: the great dragon fhall roll himfeli in " the ocean, and with his motions the earth fliall 4t be overflowed: the earth (hall be fhaken; " the trees fhall be torn up by the roots, die " rocks fhall be dafhed againft each other. The " \\ oIf*Fenris, broke loofe from his chains, fhall " open his enormous mouth which reaches from " heaven to earth; the fire fliall fiaih out from " his eyes and noftrils; he fliall devour tlie iun : ** and the great dragon who follows him, fliall " vomit forth upon the waters, and into the air, " great torrents of venom^ In this confufion the " ft-rs fhall fly from their places, the heaven ^ fhall cleave aiimder, and the army of evil " Genii and giants, conducted by Sortur (the '* black) and followed by Luke, fliall break in, ' to attack the gods. But Heimdal, the doqr- '* keeper of the gods, .tifes up ; he founds the ** " clanging H O R M : _B IB L I C Mi 147 " clanging trumpet; the gocb awake and afTem- *' ble ; the great afh tree fhakes its branches;' '* heaven and earth are full of horror and affright. *' The gods fly to arms; die heroes place them* " felves in battle-array. Odin appears armed in " his golden cafque and his refplendent cuirafs; " his vaft fcimetar is in his hands. He attacks " the wolf Fenris ; he is devoured by him, and ** Fenris perifhes at the fame inftant. Thor is " fuffocated in the floods of venom which the " dragon breathes forth as he expires. Loke and " Heimdal mutually kill each other. The fire " confumes every thing, and the flame reaches " up to heaven. But prefently after, a new earth. " fprings forth from the bofom of the waves, <( adorned with green meadows; the fields there " bring forth without culture, calamities are there " unknown, a palace is there raifed more fhining " than the fun, all covered with gold. This is " the place that the juft will inhabit, and enjoy " delights for' evermore. Then the powerful, " the valiant, he 'who governs all things, comes "" forth" from his 'lofty abodes, to reader divine " juftice. He pronounces decrees: he errablifheS " the facred deftinies which fhall endure for ever. " Tliere is an abode remote from the fun, the " gates of which face the north; poifon rains " there through a thoufand openings : this place " is all compofed of the cavcafes of ferpents: '< there run certain torrents, in which are plunged " the ,48 HOR.aJBIBLIC.ffi. " the perjurers, aflaflins, and thofe who fediicc* *' married women. A black, winged dragon flies " inceffantly around, and devours the bodies of " the wretched who are there imprifoned." FINIS. CORRIGENDA. P. 4, line 9, for Defert cf Arabia, read Euphrates. 3, line 8, for Pijbdadian, read Caianian, 14, line ii, for ffeflerti, read Roman. 25 and z6, line i, in the margin, for Before Cbrijl, Jfter Luke Hansard, Printer, Great Turnftile } Linoln's-Inn Fields. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles Thl, book I. DUE on the la.t date stamped below. 3 1158 00721 5055 pit, ^000070359