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BY MIRACLES.

137

his presence of mind and ready wit to furnish specious answers and objections to such a requisition. He repeatedly affirms that miracles^[1] did not form a part of his mission, which was restricted to preaching the joys of Paradise and torments of Hell, together with the submission due to his character as an Ambassador from God: but when this would not satisfy the pertinacity of his objectors, insisting that God would send no man on such an errand with-

↑ Gibbon observes, "The Mission of the ancient Prophets and of Jesus, had been confirmed by many splendid prodigies; and Mahomet was repeatedly urged, by the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina, to produce a similar evidence of his dive legation, to call down from heaven the angel, or the volume of his Revelation, to create a garden in the desert, or to kindle a conflagration in the unbelieving city. As often as he is pressed by the demands of the Koreish, he involves himself in the obscure boast of vision and prophecy, appeals to the internal proofs of his doctrine, and shields himself behind the Providence of God, who refuses those signs and wonders that would depreciate the merit of faith, and aggravate the guilt of infidelity. But the modest or angry tone of his apologies betray his weakness and vexation: and these passages of scandal establish, beyond suspicion, the integrity of the Koran."—Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

[1] Gibbon observes, "The Mission of the ancient Prophets and of Jesus, had been confirmed by many splendid prodigies; and Mahomet was repeatedly urged, by the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina, to produce a similar evidence of his dive legation, to call down from heaven the angel, or the volume of his Revelation, to create a garden in the desert, or to kindle a conflagration in the unbelieving city. As often as he is pressed by the demands of the Koreish, he involves himself in the obscure boast of vision and prophecy, appeals to the internal proofs of his doctrine, and shields himself behind the Providence of God, who refuses those signs and wonders that would depreciate the merit of faith, and aggravate the guilt of infidelity. But the modest or angry tone of his apologies betray his weakness and vexation: and these passages of scandal establish, beyond suspicion, the integrity of the Koran."—Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

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