894 THE DECLINE AND FALL suooesBof The talents of Mahomet are entitled to our applause, but his Mahomet II) success has perhaps too strongly attracted our admiration. Are we surprised that a multitude of proselytes should embrace the doctrine and the passions of an eloquent fanatic ? In the heresies of the church, the same seduction has been tried and repeated from the time of the apostles to that of the reformers. Does it seem incredible that a private citizen should grasp the sword and the sceptre, subdue his native countiy, and erect a monarchy by his victorious arms . In the moving picture of the dynasties of the East, an hundred fortunate usurpers have arisen from a baser origin, surmounted more formidable obsta- cles, and filled a larger scope of empire and conquest. Mahomet was alike instructed to preach and to fight, and the union of these opposite qualities, while it enhanced his merit, contributed to his success : the operation of force and persuasion, of enthu- siasm and fear, continually acted on each other, till eveiy barrier yielded to their irresistible power. His voice invited the Arabs to freedom and victoiy, to arms and rapine, to the indulgence of their darling passions in this world and the other ; the re- straints which he imposed were requisite to establish tlie credit of the prophet and to exercise the obedience of the people ; and the only objection to his success was his rational creed of the Perma, unity and perfections of God. It is not the propagation but the hijre- permanency of his religion that deserves our wonder: the same pure and perfect impression which he engraved at Mecca and Medina is preserved, after the revolutions of twelve centuries, by the Indian, the African, and the Turkish proselytes of the Koran. If the Christian apostles, St. Peter or St. Paul, could return to the Vatican, they might possibly inquire the name of the Deity who is worshipped with such mysterious rites in that magnificent temple : at Oxford or Geneva, they would experience less surprise ; but it might still be incumbent on them to peruse the catechism of the church, and to study the orthodox co)n- mentators on their own writings and the words of their Master. But the Turkish dome of St. Sophia, with an inci'ease of splen- dour and size, represents the humble tabernacle erected at Medina by the hands of Mahomet. The Mahometans have uniformly withstood the temptaticm of reducing the object of their faith and devotion to a level with the senses and imagination of man. " I believe in one God, and Mahomet the apostle of God," is the simple and invariable profession of Ishiin. The intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible idol ; the honours of the prophet have never transgressed the measure
